Fate's Fickle Humor
by PyroDragon2006
Summary: A simple visit to Atlantis by two members of SG1 sets off a chain of events that could change past, present, and future forever. And not for the better. Crossover with SG1. Rated T for some strong language.
1. Setting the Stage

Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from Stargate Atlantis or Stargate SG-1 in any way. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only.

Author's Note: This story is not related to my others in any way. It is a cross-over with SG-1, set in Season 2, Stargate Atlantis, just after Conversion. Nice catch to those of you who noticed I gave the wrong eye color to Cam and Daniel! This is the corrected version.

**Fate's Fickle Humor**

**Chapter One: The Stage is Set**

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, the military commander of Atlantis, leaned casually against the wall, watching the new personnel disembarking from the _Daedalus_. It was good to be in contract with Earth again, able to rotate out the burned out, ill, or injured, not to mention getting fresh supplies. Especially coffee. Half the population of the city seemed to practically live on the stuff, and whoa be it to the person who encountered them when there wasn't any of the precious liquid to be had. Riots in the mess hall were not unheard of.

It also meant that they could occasionally have visitors, like the two John had been waiting for. Watching as they came off the ship together, one pausing to speak with the Asgard, Hermiod, John was struck by the similarities between the two men. Both were of average height for an American...well, Caucasian man, with muscular, athletic builds. Thick light brown hair adorned both heads, cut in similar short styles, and the officer knew that when he was close enough, he would see identical sets of blue eyes. Anyone who didn't know better would think that they were brothers instead of fairly new team mates. With a grin of welcome, John broke off his musings and straightened, meeting the first of the two with a firm handshake.

"Dr. Jackson. Nice to see you again and welcome to Atlantis... Finally. I hope the two months that General Landry was able to give you here will prove fruitful."

Jackson rolled his eyes and his companion chuckled at the emphasis on the word 'finally'. All three men grinned at the thought of the string of bizarre incidents that had kept the archaeologist from reaching the fabled lost city earlier, despite his eagerness. To most, it would have seemed that Jackson had the worst luck in the galaxy, but this _was _a member of SG-1 they were talking about. Really strange came with the membership card.

"Thank you, Colonel Sheppard. And a belated congratulations on your promotion. I know Jack was pleased." Daniel couldn't help himself, gazing around in awe even as he spoke.

John's smile grew and took on a decidedly mischievous air as he turned to greet Atlantis' other guest. "Cam. Couldn't cause enough trouble in your own galaxy so you decided to come try mine?"

The other man laughed. "Why should I let you sit out here and hog all the fun, Shep? Besides, the Gou'ld were getting a little boring and General O'Neill squashed all the replicators. Had to find new bugs _somewhere._ Just be glad somebody talked the general out of coming along!"

John winced at the mention of bugs, trying very hard not to let the unintentional reminder of his most recent ordeal show. He had just been released back to active, gate-authorized duty this morning by a somewhat cautious trio of Dr. Beckett, Dr. Heightmeyer, and Dr. Weir. Silently, he told himself that it was not an intentional thing on the part of his friend, who probably hadn't read the report yet. After all, Colonel Caldwell had left for Earth on this latest supply run before he'd even been conscious. Much to the relief of almost everyone on Atlantis. The _Daedalus_ commander could be a real jerk when he wanted. John was abruptly jolted out of his oh so cheery thoughts by a snort from Daniel Jackson.

"Are you kidding? Putting Jack and Colonel Sheppard, the two worst trouble magnets I know, on the same base together for two whole months! They were only in the same helicopter together for about twenty minutes, in the _middle of nowhere_, and they almost got shot down!"

"Hey! That _wasn't _my fault!" John grimaced, though he really couldn't debate the truth of Daniel's statement. Thinking about that life changing trip, he once again wondered what could possibly have made the general so impulsively grant him security clearance that day. Not that he was complaining. One of the best things that had ever happened to him was accidentally activating that Control Chair.

The second visitor, Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, recently appointed leader of the famed SG-1, interrupted his old friend's musings.

"So, were you able to keep our identities a secret? The message we got while in route said you weren't sure. What's up?"

John smiled slightly. "Yeah, I got around it all right. The problem was I wasn't on even light duty when I got the message that you were actually aboard the _Daedalus_. You owe me a big one for this, buddy. Elizabeth is gonna have my head when she finds out just who our two 'temporary scientists' really are. She _is _the Expedition Leader, ya know." Not to mention a good friend.

It hadn't been easy, either. Though finally allowed on light duty later the same day as the message, the recovering colonel had been kept under close watch by his friends. None of them were ready to admit just how nerve wracking that close call with John's life had been, and all of them seemed to need constant reassurance that he was truly all right. Rodney McKay had been acting like a leech until both Carson Beckett and John had rounded on him.

"Colonel Sheppard, the newbies are- Dr. Jackson!"

Major Marcus Lorne, Sheppard's second-in-command, stopped dead in astonishment, eyes wide. All three men saw the major's involuntary darting glance around the area, as if expecting something to jump out at him. Daniel smiled slightly as his memory kicked in, connecting the face and name. Nice to see the man doing more than helping run a mining operation with the perpetually scowling Colonel Edwards.

"Don't worry, Major, I didn't bring any Unas with me this time." At Daniel's gently teasing reassurance, Lorne flushed.

"Unas?" John's gaze flicked back and forth between the archaeologist and the soldier. "Do I _wanna _know?"

"No!" Both men spoke at the same time, a slightly awkward silence descending for several seconds afterward.

"The newbies, Major?" John finally prompted his distracted subordinate.

"Oh! Yes, sir. They're all accounted for and locating quarters. Lieutenant Cadman and I will start their 'Surviving the Pegasus Galaxy 101' course tomorrow morning. Dr. McKay is scheduled to be on a run to the mainland to check on some equipment at the Athosian camp, so hopefully..."

"There won't be any repeats of 'The Galaxy According to McKay for Stupid Idiots' like last time?" John grinned.

Dr. Rodney McKay, the head of Atlantis' scientists and a member of John's team, could try the patience of a saint. When Major Lorne first arrived, he had spent less than half a day off-world with the man before reportedly wondering why John hadn't shot the egotistical genius yet. Putting the man in the same room as SG-1's Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter was supposedly the same as lighting a fire in a bone-dry forest. Instant massive conflagration. Too bad Carter hadn't been able to come with her team mates, that could have been fun.

"Uh oh... Sounds like McKay hasn't changed. Probably a good thing that Sam couldn't come." Daniel grimaced, echoing John's thoughts with a lot less enthusiasm for the potential outcome.

"Dare I ask?" Cam grinned at his friends, one eyebrow quirking up in inquiry.

"No." John immediately told him. "And you, Dr. Jackson, might be surprised." Despite the scientist's complete lack of interpersonal skills, he had become not only an intragal part of Atlantis, but a very good friend. "Just don't let him fly any Jumpers that you're in. For a genius, he has a rather faulty grasp on the concept of a straight line. Major, I'll leave our fresh fish in your capable hands and show our guests around."

"Yes, sir." Lorne nodded, snapping off a salute to both colonels before leaving.

John jerked his head in the direction of the quickly departing officer. "The East Pier _is _nice, but there's a lot more to see. This way."

Cam nudged his still gawking companion. "In other words, shut your mouth and follow the man, Jackson."

"What? Oh!" Daniel flushed slightly at being caught inattentive. "Right, lead on, Colonel Sheppard. And it's Daniel, please."

"John."

The other man gave the scientist his trademark crooked grin, heading off slowly down the corridor so that Daniel didn't trip over anything. It didn't take much to figure out it might take awhile for them to actually reach the guest quarters. Hopefully, one of the two officers could keep their companion from running into _too _many doors or walls. Deciding against the shortcut of the transporters, John led them through the maze like structure, pointing out different things that might be of interest. For once, he was honestly enjoying the role of tour guide.

"We only use a small central portion of the city day to day, so a lot of the areas we're walking through are in rough shape. Some of them haven't even been fully explored and mapped yet. We've just been too busy. We have teams out here repairing what they can, but this place is _huge_. If you want to go into any of the uninhabited areas, an escort is required, with full gear. We've had a few mishaps in the past, and I'd rather not be the one to tell General O'Neill that I lost his favorite archaeologist!"

John exchanged a long-suffering look with Cam as he said that, both having done their share of pulling absent minded professors out of predicaments. Daniel just grimaced, having been the _source _of the trouble all too often in the past. There had been a good reason that he'd instantly insisted on his innocence to Jack when the general finally reached the Antarctic Outpost.

Babysitting was one of the least popular duties that the military members of the expedition and the SGC had, but unfortunately a frequent one. Scuttlebutt was that being assigned some of the worst geeks was a clear sign that you'd royally pissed off your CO somehow. While John wasn't inclined to use it as a punishment on Atlantis, since he wanted the civilians to actually come back in one _piece_, he wasn't above assigning it as a testing tool. Those who passed, meaning the civilian was only a _little _dented when they returned, were more likely to be assigned to regular off-world duty, while those who didn't protected Atlantis or were sent home. It took a certain _art_, both John and Cam had found, to keeping their preoccupied charges healthy, especially when they weren't inclined to follow orders.

"Have you found any personal items, anything that would tell us more about their daily lives here?" Daniel was peering into each room as they passed, seeing nothing but empty areas and debris for the most part.

"Not a whole lot, but McKay or Zelenka can show you what we have. Most of what was left was in the various science labs, and a lot of the city was flooded before the emergency protocols that lifted us to the surface kicked in, so who knows how much washed away. The areas that _were _protected under the central shield were cleaned out when the city was evacuated the final time. Mostly we've been coming across things that were too dangerous to take, couldn't be physically moved, or were experimental. With the limited staff that we have, McKay says full exploration and research could take years."

Daniel absently nodded, not that surprised now that he'd gotten a good look at the sheer scale of the place. _Big_ didn't actually cover it, despite what he'd said to Jack, and _massive_ was only marginally more accurate. _How _could this thing have actually flown! Now, realizing that one or more of the beings he'd known when he was ascended had probably lived here, maybe even helped build the thing, he could kick himself for all the questions he'd failed to ask. It would have taken a century just to get all the answers, there were so many racing around his mind. Darn.


	2. Meetings and Missions

Chapter 2: Meetings and Missions

Daniel couldn't help trailing farther and farther behind his two companions, finding the city much more interesting then the conversation between the other two men. Which, right now, revolved around the chances of different baseball teams had of making the World Series and the prospects of the football teams about to start _their _season. Now, if they had begun debating games common to Ancient Egypt as compared to the ball game of the Mayans, he might have paid attention. Which _could_ have prevented the collision between himself and the young Czech woman muttering furiously under her breath in her own language who came blindly around a corner.

As his glasses went flying, the archaeologist grabbed the woman with reflexes honed by years of training with Jack and Teal'c, preventing them both from hitting the floor. She recoiled back from him in shock and embarrassment, immediately bending to retrieve his fallen glasses.

"Oh! Sorry! Am so sorry!"

"That's alright, wouldn't be the first time I've been run down in a hallway. Are you alright?" Daniel grinned wryly as he accepted the wayward spectacles, sticking them back on. He neglected to point out, however, that nine times out of ten, _he _was the cause, not the victim, of such incidents. Head cocked, his grin slipped a little as he noted the tears running down the woman's cheeks. "Hey, what's wrong, are you hurt?"

"No, I am fine. Dr. McKay, he demands new archaeologist off _Daedalus_, now! I'm not knowing _who_, or where to find them. He will yell more at me, with lots of insulting!"

Daniel instantly grimaced, feeling sorry for the woman, who probably had a Ph. D. in her own right, and shouldn't have been running _anyone's _errands. Yep, that sounded like the McKay SG-1 knew and hated alright. Ego as big as the Pegasus Galaxy and as demanding as a Gou'ld System Lord. The only person to ever call Carter a 'dumb blond' to her face and come away with all his limbs intact. Of course, it was only because Jack was nursing a concussion, Teal'c was stuck in the Stargate, and Daniel himself was in Russia. Maybe it was time for a little long-delayed payback.

"Well, I'm the archaeologist, so I can save you the tongue-lashing, at least. Lead the way."

The woman brightened up, looking incredibly grateful, as well as astonished. "You would not mind? You have just gotten here, I am thinking."

The SG-1 member gave her his most charming smile, the one that Sha're had so loved. "Not at all. I've worked with Dr. McKay before, so I understand completely. Let's just go see if we can deflate the good doctor a bit, shall we?"

The woman looked a little shocked, but turned around and led the way to an open door just down the other corridor. Entering, Daniel took note of several groups of scientists clustered around, but carefully avoiding the lone figure in the center of the lab. One look at the slightly pudgy blue-shirted figure with balding head bent intently over a piece of stone and the archaeologist knew he had found his prey. The man didn't even have the politeness to look up when he heard the footsteps approaching him.

"That better be you with that new translator, Madlenka, because I was about to send this to Dr. Weir's office, where we'll see it again sometime next year. I swear, do they really think I have time to be learning all these languages just so they can save a little money on another salary? Hello! Doing work that could save the galaxy here!" The irritated grumbling gave way to the snapping of demanding fingers. "You! New guy! Got something for you! Show me you're worth giving a paycheck to!"

Yes, indeed, Mr. Arrogant hadn't changed a bit! Daniel stood there for a second, debating the best way to respond.

"Hey! Am I talking to the brain-dead here? What are you, military?"

"Mc-Kay..." A new voice drawled from behind him. Turning, he saw that his two companions had finally noticed his absence. John was rolling his eyes in annoyance, obviously the one who had just spoken. "You might want to actually _look_ at who you're talking to before making demands. Saves you from being a _total _ass."

Still, the astrophysicist didn't take the hint.

"Go away, Sheppard. We have a bunch of Ancient things in here, and I don't need you suddenly making one take off."

John just shook his head, leaning back against the door jam. Sometimes trying to save his friend a little embarrassment was more trouble than it was worth. Daniel correctly read the resigned look and grinned, moving to right behind the preoccupied genius.

"Last I checked, it was Dr. Beckett that shot the drone in Antarctica, not Colonel Sheppard."

The unexpectedly familiar voice finally caught McKay's attention, twirling him instantly around.

"Where did _you _come from! Aren't you supposed to be on Earth keeping Samantha out of trouble!"

"Well, you're much more fun to bug. After all, Sam's usually _right._" That received a laugh from John, who had once again winced at the word 'bug'. He really needed to talk to them about not using that around him. It took the astrophysicist a minute to work out the insult, however, then his face began to turn a lovely shade of red. "Oh, ha, ha. Very funny. See if I break my back pulling _your _worthless butt out of one of the many piles of stinky stuff the Pegasus Galaxy can land you in! As long as you're here, make yourself useful and translate this." McKay waved in disgust at the tablet he'd been studying so intently.

Curiosity quickly overcame Daniel's distaste for the other man, and he hurried over to have a look. The first thing he noted was that it looked almost too new to be anything of interest to an archaeologist. The carvings were all still sharp and clear... and written in a dialect of Ancient Egyptian.

"Where did this come from?" He couldn't help putting a little demand in his own voice.

"Ah... You! Russian scientist! Where did item 5703-0PG come from?" Rodney turned, snapping at the person nearest the cataloging computer. The man rolled his eyes in disgust, earning another bark of laughter from John, but quickly looked up the requested information.

"P9057-M715. Scouted by Major Lorne's team. No indigenous people, but extensive ruins of Ancient origin. On the list for further investigation."

"Doesn't sound too exciting. What's up, Jackson?" Cam raised an eyebrow at his colleague, more interested in dinner and guest quarters than weird pieces of rock at the moment.

Daniel instantly pushed his glasses back up his nose, a move that had his team mate paying a little more attention. Cam had only been leading SG-1 for a few months, but he had already learned a number of Jackson's quirks. The move he had just seen meant there was something significant, but Daniel wasn't sure quite what it was yet.

"This tablet looks new, no weathering, and its written in _Egyptian_!"

That got John's attention, too. "In the Pegasus Galaxy? Are you sure?"

Rodney was looking over the man's shoulder, frowning. "That can't possibly be right. We haven't found any signs of any modern Earth cross-over like in the Milky Way. The Gou'ld never got out this far, with or without servantsMight have been interesting if they had. Can you imagine a Wraith trying to feed on a human serving as a Gou'ld host?"

John smiled tightly, walking over to see the controversial item for himself and not so incidentally swatting Rodney on the back of the head.

"Ow! Sheppard!"

"Don't even suggest that as a joke, McKay, 'cause it sure as hell isn't funny! So, what does this impossible item _say_?"

Daniel frowned. "Ah... That which you seek the most... The doorway to the answer lies here."

"Oh, how spectacularly unhelpful. What did the Ancients do, take lessons in cryptic?" Disgust laced Rodney's tone. "The last time we found something so vague, we almost lost Sheppard. Again."

"Still, it might be worth investigating, Rodney. Didn't Carson say I could start back in the field with some nice, boring survey missions, anyway? Ancient ruins, never know what might light up."

"You're just tired of sitting around Atlantis doing paperwork. Not to mention helping the science staff with very important research."

"Its called playing _lab rat_, McKay, and yes, I'm sick of it. I'm 100 Sheppard again and its time the team got off their flabby rear ends. This sounds perfect."

"Flabby? _Flabby!_ I dare you to say that in front of Ronon and Teyla. Oh, and you get to convince Elizabeth. I think its a waste of time."

"Sounds like fun to me, and Jackson's eyes just lit up like it was Christmas morning. Mind if we tag along?" Cam grinned, never tiring of ribbing the other SG-1 member about his instant enthusiasm for all things Ancient.

"Sure, right after you help me explain to Elizabeth how the two temporary replacements just _happen _to be from SG-1 and the notification you were coming _happened _to fall through the cracks." John grinned, seeing someone else to absorb some of the expedition leader's wrath.

Cam just shook his head, "Got any dragons you want slain instead?"

TBC... You know what they say, you should never tempt fate, especially if the designation number after your team is 1!


	3. Right Hand of Fate

Chapter 3: Right Hand of Fate

Elizabeth sighed as she watched the six forms walk through the wormhole, one pausing to give the same jaunty wave he always did. Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard was back on the loose... Perhaps she should have sent out warning messages to the rest of the galaxy. A smile tugged her lips at the idea. There were times she wondered if fate didn't hate the man, the way trouble seemed to discover him on the simplest of missions.

"Worried about him already, love?"

A gentle hand on her shoulder alerted her to the presence of Doctor Carson Beckett just before he spoke.

"With John, its automatic. When he came to me yesterday with the mission proposal, I didn't know whether to hug him or choke him. How could he not tell me two members of SG-1 would be visiting us for several months? He was like a little kid bouncing around because he pulled one over on the adults. I wanted to chew his rear end out..."

"But?" Carson prompted quietly, having a fairly good guess as to why she didn't.

"But... It was the first time in weeks that I've seen that light in his eyes."

"The one that makes you wonder for a moment if the lad every really grew up, you mean?"

The doctor grinned, content that everyone in his care was once again well. It was when John was recovered enough from his latest injury for that glint to return that Carson knew the colonel would truly be alright. It was also when the nurses began demanding hazard pay.

"We almost lost him again. I keep wondering when his luck will finally run out. Not to mention what I'll do without him." Elizabeth gripped the railing hard as a shudder ran down her spine at the very thought of facing that. "Maybe we shouldn't have let him go so soon."

"He's as ready as he'll ever be to go back out there, love, and he's got extra help with him if they _do _manage to find trouble already. How many close calls has SG-1 gotten out of over the years?"

"True, Carson, but look at how often they _found _the danger to need to get out of it! If fate is kind, this will be just as easy as Rodney made it out to sound, but... Egyptian hieroglyphs in the Pegasus Galaxy? I can't shake the feeling that something's going to go very wrong."

Glancing at her companion, it didn't reassure her any to see the same unease in his expression that she was fighting so hard to tell herself was just nerves. Why couldn't she just lock her military commander in an office and never let him out again? Elizabeth was tired of the vigils in the infirmary, the knot of turmoil in her gut any time they were the slightest bit overdue, the inevitable emergency calls to the medical staff when they _did _come back... Couldn't the universe be gentle with them just this once? For her? With one last look at the now silent gate, she turned toward her office, intent on at least _pretending _to get some work done.

John was bored. Very, very bored. For once in his life, though, it wasn't a problem for him. No angry natives, no weird customs, no astrophysicist whining about said customs and natives, no manic former subordinates... and no bugs or Wraith girls trying to feed off of him. This was good. Just the kind of milk run mission he actually needed to steady his nerves about going off world again after his latest nasty brush with death, not that he would ever willingly admit that to anyone. Now, if their surroundings would be a little more cooperative at settling him, he'd be a very happy man.

The ruins themselves were at least beautiful in their own, abandoned for 10,000 years way, full of the typical graceful Ancient style and that virtually unbreakable pseudo-stained glass. It looked to John as if this may have been another outpost of some kind, and a fairly substantial one at that. There were several large buildings, each containing seemingly endless interconnected rooms, more or less intact. If there was a rhyme or reason to the layout, John had yet to figure out the pattern. There were lab after lab, then what was probably personal quarters, then another lab, a bathroom, a kitchen of some sort, more labs... Weird, almost as if whoever planned the thing had too much to drink that night. It was made even worse by the collapse of some of the ceilings and walls to certain rooms, leaving piles of rubble to catch the unwary in a dead end. Add the trees growing throughout the whole thing, both in the structures and between them, and it was enough to make any good soldier wary of unexpected surprises around any given turn.

Consequently, Ronon and Teyla were patrolling the outer ruins while he and Cam strolled through the inner ones, comparing their newest misadventures. They hadn't yet reached an agreement on which was worse, being convinced by your own memories that you'd killed a friend in cold blood when you were actually innocent, or losing your humanity as you slowly turned into a giant bug-creature that saw your friends as food. John, of course, went with the whole mutating thing as being a lot uglier than a few false memories.

"You know what this place reminds me of, John?" Cam grinned at his friend as they turned a corner only to find another wall, much more relaxed about the whole thing then his companion. Not that Sheppard didn't have plenty of reason to be jumping at shadows.

"The obstacle course at the Academy?"

"Nope. A corn maze. Everything looks the same so you can't really keep track of where you've been, keep goin' in circles."

"Great, that's all we need, something out of a Corn Belt carnival. Don't suppose you ever learned any tricks for defeating this little headache?"

Cam laughed softly at his friend's grumbling, glad he had successfully diverted his attention from every little sway of a tree branch. For a while, the SG-1 colonel had wondered if they would have a leafy massacre on their hands courtesy of John's nerves.

"Yep. Don't go in them in the first place."

"Oh, very helpful, thank you. You're as bad as Rodney."

John rolled his eyes, batting another branch out of his way as they made their way through the rubble in a doorway, only to find the subject of his comparison hunched over what was left of a console in the next room. Daniel wasn't far away, crouched near a wall, carefully examining some writing. Looking around, the Atlantis colonel swore softly, trying to figure out how they'd come in a circle back to their starting point without his being aware of it. He usually had a better sense of direction then that, even in a building. This place was starting to turn _bored_ into _creepy, don't come back until Halloween_. He could have sworn they were about to exit the ruins near the far side, not return to the front. Unless...

"McKay, did you two move rooms without telling me?"

A distracted wave of dismissal from the preoccupied astrophysicist. "What? No, no... Unless we're in danger of imminent death or self-destruction, go away, Sheppard. I'm busy."

"So much for the place not sounding to interesting. Is he always such a courteous companion?"

Cam grimaced, beginning to see why his team mates had taken such an instant dislike to the man. He was certainly no comparison to Sam, who was smart, funny, nice, and knew how to shoot a weapon.

A chuckle answered him. "He hasn't even gotten warmed up yet. Wait until you see him in full snark mode. Okay, Rodney, we'll leave, but warn me if you're about to blow something up, please."

"Huh! That's normally _your _department! Just watch-"

John had turned to leave, only to trip over a chunk of rock he'd somehow failed to notice on the floor, sending him stumbling. Unfortunately, his recent illness ensured that he wasn't able to regain his footing with his usual athletic grace and he fell against a small crystalline pedestal with a soft curse. The thing immediately lit up, a bright flash momentarily blinding the four men and dizziness landed John on his butt.

"What the hell was _that _!" Cam blurted, only to have an energy bolt crackle past his ear, sending him ducking behind the farther, and larger, console McKay had been studying.

John rolled, heedless of the bruises he was undoubtedly picking up from the debris, not about to risk standing up with an unknown enemy firing at them out of nowhere. As he did so, he was able to catch a glimpse of their attacker standing in the door he and Cam had just come through. Son of a bitch. A Wraith. Where had _he _come from? The rattle of a P-90 told him someone was giving him the cover fire he needed to scramble around the console, joining the others.

"Sheppard! That's a Wraith warrior!"

"Very good, Rodney! Tell me something I don't already know!"

Before he could key his com to warn their companions, however, the thing clicked to life, Teyla's angry and alarmed voice filling the room. "Wraith! They are holding the Stargate active!"

"Shit! So much for a cake walk!"

John swore quietly as he and Cam returned their adversary's fire. The rattle of another P-90 from the other side of the room had the alien in a textbook cross-fire, taking the Wraith down. Eventually. Used to Rodney, who rarely shot if he could help it, John had forgotten that Daniel was almost as good as any trained soldier. Wearily, he pushed himself to his feet, surprised by how much the short fight had taken out of him, then was forced to grab the console once again as a wave of dizziness hit. Not even quite sure of why, he clicked on his com.

"Teyla, Ronon, fall back to the inner ruins! Signal me the moment you're within the city perimeter."

"Acknowledged, colonel."

Rodney, meanwhile, was gaping open mouthed at the now brightly lit pedestal console.

"Sheppard! What the hell did you do! You're not supposed to touch anything, remember!"

The Atlantis colonel, however, seemed utterly oblivious to his surroundings, focus totally consumed by the console on which he still leaned against. The whole thing was glowing now, cycling through pastel blue, purple, pink, and yellow, the lights casting an eerie reflection in John's suddenly glassy eyes.

"Jackson, keep watch for more party crashers. We may have a problem."

Cam grimly waved a hand in front of his colleague's face while Rodney glowered at the sudden wealth of readings on his tablet. John was completely non-responsive, which all three men were sure was a bad sign.

"Why do I get the idea that John's not supposed to be playing wax museum right now?"

Rodney rolled his eyes at the other colonel, exasperated. "Brilliant deduction, colonel. Anything else obvious you feel the over-whelming urge to share?"

Click. "Sheppard, we're in the ruins."

Ronon, sounding slightly out of breath. Rodney couldn't think of a strong enough curse for the mess this day was fast becoming. He really should have known better than to let Sheppard and his strong ATA gene _anywhere_ near Ancient ruins.

"Damn it! Hold on, Ronon, we may have a problem. Sheppard's-"

A surprised yelp cut off the rest of what the scientist was saying as a shimmering blue shield arced to life over their heads. Then the console flashed one more time and John slipped bonelessly to the floor, unconscious.

TBC...

A/N: Thanks to all of you who have been reading and reviewing. Sorry this has been so slow in coming, life really got in the way for a while, plus my muse decided she had other things for me to do and wouldn't shut up until I complied. Now, time to bring in someone else to join the party...


	4. Left Hand of Fate

Chapter 4: Left Hand of Fate

Three years earlier, somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy...

"Hurry up, you two, _Simpsons _is on in two hours and if you make me miss it, you _will not _have a happy colonel on your hands!"

Colonel Jack O'Neill, leader of the famed SG-1, stalked into the ruined building where two members of his team were so fascinated with some old machines. Personally, he couldn't see the attraction himself. The things were way too old and in such rotten condition that there was no way they were of any use, but Carter and Jonas Quinn had both insisted on coming. Jack had learned long ago that a little boredom could be the lesser of two evils when the peace of the team was at stake. Let the geeks poke around for a while, grumble at regular intervals, and they would eventually take pity on him, allowing them all to go home happy. Especially when nobody decided to shoot at them in the meantime. Always a pleasant surprise. Receiving no response, Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Jonas! Carter! Did you hear me?"

The only one who seemed to be paying the least bit of attention, however, was Teal'c, who was standing watch just inside the room. The Jaffa warrior, who the colonel knew had to be as bored as he was, merely raised one eyebrow at him in the patented Teal'c way. Jack ground his teeth, firmly telling himself that he couldn't shoot them even if he _had_ a zat. Scientists! Couldn't live with them, and way too prickly to make a good rug. He hated the whole lot of them.

"Major! Bart is waiting!"

A bob of a blond head over the top of a crystalline console.

"Yes, sir. Still haven't figured out how to program that new DVD recorder? I could use ten more minutes here, if possible. Jonas and I still haven't determined the source of that tablet with the strange writing SG-11 supposedly picked up here."

The other bent figure abruptly straightened into a slender young man with brown hair and an intent look on his face. His voice, when he spoke, was tight with excitement and so fast it was almost impossible for Jack to understand him.

"Some kind of derivative of Ancient! This could help us find the lost city Dr. Jackson's tablet spoke of!"

Jonas Quinn, a fairly recent addition to the team, saw the solving of the riddle Daniel had dropped in their laps as a form of redemption, Jack knew. A little over a year earlier, the young man had been inadvertently contributory to Daniel's physical death by radiation poisoning and had vowed to complete the work the other man had started. Now, he had his teeth firmly planted in this bone, found on the planet of Abydos by Daniel himself in ascended form three weeks ago.

"Fine, I'll be nice. You have _twenty_ minutes more, then we're leaving, even if Teal'c and I have to _drag _you two to the Stargate."

Two hands raised in distracted waves of acknowledgment. Geeks! Probably turn out to be somebody's grocery list. With a long-suffering harrumph, Jack leaned forward against the strange crystal-thingie they were so intent on the other side of...

A wave of dizziness had him clutching the thing in a death grip instead as he caught just the slightest glimpse of the figure of a person with a staff before a bright light overwhelmed him and he was falling. Fighting the swimming in his head, he surged back up, a strong hand aiding him up even as he reached for a weapon. All four members of SG-1 were on their feet, P-90s ready, before the aftereffects of the flash were even gone. In their world, such things usually meant absolutely no good. Blinking rapidly against the blobs of color still dancing in his eyesight, the first problem the colonel noted was the absence of the console he'd been hanging onto just seconds before. The room they were in was in a lesser state of ruins, too. Not good.

"What the hell-!"

Jack's exasperated shout was cut off by his radio clicking to life. A strange woman's voice filled the small room, transmitting on the channel always used by the SG teams.

"Wraith! They are holding the Stargate active!"

The distinctive chatter of P-90 fire echoed through the ruins almost before the woman had finished speaking, causing SG-1 to immediately scan the room warily. Whoever was out there, they had Earth weapons and radios, plus they didn't sound like they were very far away. Suddenly, one very ugly alien popped around the wall into the doorway, looking just as shocked to see them as they were to see it. A whitish staff swung up, firing off a burst of energy that had SG-1 scrambling for cover as it sizzled over their heads.

"What, no 'halt or I'll shoot'? Now that's just _rude!_"

Jack's snide comment earned him another session of ducking behind rubble even as a new voice crackled over the com.

"Teyla, Ronon, fall back to the inner ruins! Signal me the moment you're within the city perimeter."

Then the woman again. "Acknowledged, colonel."

Another SG team? Jack didn't recognize the names, but they had lost a lot of people lately. However, the last time they came across a team where there wasn't supposed to be one, they'd turned out to be Jaffa learning to infiltrate Stargate Command. First problem first, though. Ugly's aim was improving a little too much for comfort. Looking to his left, Jack caught Carter's eye, receiving a nod of acknowledgment from the other officer. If they could distract this thing, Teal'c might be able to nail its greenish hide with his staff weapon. As one, the colonel and major popped up, firing steady bursts at the thing, Jonas joining them with his 9 millimeter handgun only seconds later. The kid was getting better, Jack noted absently. Even scientists were trainable.

A staff blast caught the enemy in the side, staggering it for only a few seconds, though that was better then _their _shots had managed. Jack could see the black pit burned into the thing's side and winced. That had to hurt. Two more quick blasts before the creature could recover enough to fire back again, plus good old lead, and it finally collapsed. SG-1's leader cautiously approached, poking it with the toe of one boot, only to have the alien suddenly flare back to life, grabbing on to his ankle just as his radio squawked again.

"Sheppard, we're in the ruins."

Jack didn't have time to really pay attention to the new, deep voice as he landed hard on his back, breath exploding from his lungs. Instinctually, he kicked out with his free foot, desperate to get the thing off of him, mind barely registering the whine of another staff blast. Teal'c grimly leaned over, pulling a still spasming hand from O'Neill's leg even as Carter and Jonas pulled the colonel to his feet. Another call had Jack spinning around, searching for a target before realizing it was his stupid radio. The voice on the other end, however, was what caught the attention of at least one member of the team.

"Damn it! Hold on, Ronon, we may have a problem. Sheppard's-"

The transmission cut off as a blue sheet of energy crackled to life over their heads. Jonas flinched hard, taking a step back into Jack, though the colonel, for once, didn't bark at him for it. He was too busy exchanging shocked looks with a stunned Major Samantha Carter. The woman's eyes went wide, mouthing 'McKay?' silently before the insistent beeping of her laptop, laying abandoned on the floor, flagged her focus. Grimly, the astrophysicist grabbed it, feeling a cold chill run down her spine at what it showed.

"My equipment read a power spike and an unknown radiation just as that light flashed. Now I've got an energy shield surrounding us. We're stuck unless we can find the power source and shut the thing off." A quick shake of her head cut off the inevitable question. "No, I don't know where that is at the moment. I didn't know McKay had been allowed on an SG team, sir."

Jack grimaced, quickly shaking his head. He liked the Canadian about as much as Carter did, especially since the man had almost managed to electrocute her earlier in the year.

"He hasn't that I know of. Either its not him, or I'd like to know what the hell he's doing out here."

"I must insist you ask him for yourselves."

The woman's voice again, but this time it wasn't coming over their radios. A slight movement in the shadows to their left quickly resolved itself into the unknown lady as she walked slowly toward them, stopping just out of reach. The first thing about her any of them noted was the P-90 she expertly cradled in her arms, aimed steadily at them. Jack silently cursed himself out as his hand moved automatically toward his weapon and her eyes flashed a warning at him. He had let his guard down for a moment, gathering the wits he'd had knocked all over by the alien. Stupid, rookie mistake! Teal'c, at least, was not caught out, he noted out of the corner of his eye, staff weapon held equally steady right at the woman. Classic stand-off.

The woman herself was fairly petite, maybe five foot three, with long coppery hair and a petite, athletic form. The lithe way she moved, though, made Jack hope he never had to face the lady in a hand-to-hand fight. Somehow, he thought he'd lose. She was wearing a gray uniform that none of them recognized, but the tack vest was all too familiar, as, of course, was the weapon she held. Jack narrowed his eyes at her, taking in her confident stance even though she was clearly outnumbered.

"And if we don't feel like it?" He asked lightly.

"Then _I _insist and _you _need a doctor."

Her deep voiced companion, directly _behind_ Teal'c, whose face flickered, telegraphing his own surprise to anyone who knew the Jaffa warrior as well as the colonel did. The man was huge, towering over even Teal'c by an inch or two, with a scowling face framed by dark dreadlocks and beard. His clothing looked worn, and much more in keeping with their surroundings than what was worn by the woman. The weapon he held was unknown, too, though Jack had no desire to test its effectiveness.

"And who are you, an extra from _The Lord of the Rings_ ?"

It was a tactic that had worked quite effectively in the past to throw off the enemy. Make a snide comment that Jack knew wouldn't have any meaning to them, but would distract their attention just a bit. Not to mention annoy the hell out them and entertain the SG-1 team leader. They'd make a mistake, and SG-1 would get their opening to turn the tables on their foes. Unfortunately, there seemed to be two things wrong with the approach this time. One, the guy didn't look at all confused nor did his aim waver. Two, a third player decided to get into the game and spoil the colonel's fun.

"Jack, you're being an ass again."

A/N:_ Now things really begin to get messy. Kudos to anyone who knows where the last line came from and who said it. Thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys are great!_


	5. Temporal Headaches

Author's Note: Sorry these updates have been so slow in coming. Both Organized Chaos and Fate's Fickle Humor should now be updated at least weekly, if not faster. Thank you so much to all who read and review. If I haven't been able to send you an individual reply, please accept my apologies.

Chapter 5: Temporal Headaches

"Jack, you're being an ass again."

Daniel watched as his old friend reacted to the sound of his voice. It appeared this wasn't the day for SG-1 to anticipate surprises since even Teal'c looked shocked, Jonas went pale, and Sam and Jack both let their mouths hang open.

"_Daniel!_"

The archaeologist grinned tightly as four voices breathed the name at the same time.

"Hi, Sam, Teal'c, Jonas. Jack, don't throw another shoe at me 'cause this time it'll bounce. Wasn't exactly expecting all of you to drop in and I'd love to explain, but we have a few problems at the moment. Ronon, Teyla, Colonel Sheppard is down and McKay doesn't know how long this shield can keep the Wraith out, so..."

The Satedan scowled fiercely at the news while Teyla blanched, though neither one of them lowered their weapons.

"What about them?" A dread locked head jerked at SG-1.

From the corner of his eye, Daniel noted Jack opening his mouth to reply to that, probably with something snidely sarcastic, and shook his head. Surprisingly, his friend subsided, leaving the scientist wondering if he ought to pop out of nowhere on them more often.

"They're friends. McKay read a temporal flux of some sort just as all the Wraith appeared, so that probably is responsible for _this _SG-1 showing up as well." Both alien members of the Atlantis team stared at him in utter confusion, and Daniel had to wonder how they'd gotten off so lucky that they weren't familiar with the signs of time travel. "Look, it might be better to get everyone together before we go through any more of this. If we leave them alone too long, Colonel Mitchell might be tempted to shoot Dr. McKay."

A wicked grin creased Carter's face. "And _how _is this a problem?"

Ronon rolled his eyes, lowering his weapon with a snort as Teyla ducked her head to hide a smile.

"They've met McKay all right. Lead on." The Satedan's dry comment earned him a chiding look from the Athosian, whose lips were twitching mighty suspiciously.

"Ronon! That is _not _polite!"

"This way."

Daniel turned on his heel, leading them quickly through the ruins, pointedly ignoring Jack's fiercely muttered questions. The last thing he needed right now was to get into a verbal sparring match with Jack over what had happened on Jonas' planet and his ascension.

Jack still wasn't quite sure he believed what was happening. Daniel, appearing out of nowhere, dressed in SG gear after the last they saw of him, he was going to face off with Anubis? And temporal _anything_ was never good in the colonel's experience. Jack ground his teeth in irritation, reminding himself that yelling, while it might make one feel better, would be useless aimed at Dr. Daniel Jackson, no matter how tempting.

Daniel led them through several rooms filled with debris, though all had their walls mostly intact. That alone would have told Jack that they were in a different location, though events had made that obvious even to him. Finally, they emerged into a room much like the one SG-1 had started this fiasco in, complete with crystalline pedestal/console thingy. Except this one was lit up and the place _looked _deserted at first glance. Slowly, however, a slightly pudgy, very familiar figure appeared, mouth hanging open in a satisfying way. It was about time some one _else_ got a few shocks around this strange place. From the shadows to their left, a second figure soon emerged. Another man, who bore a striking resemblance in ethnic features to Daniel, but whose every smooth,wary move shouted 'military!' to those who knew what to look for. Like Jack. The other man blinked rapidly, staring at Jack in puzzlement before glancing at Daniel.

"Jackson! You picked up a few friends! What the hell is General O'Neill doing here?"

He better not have heard that right. Daniel wincing, however, made him pretty sure he had.

"Excuse me? General? Bite your tongue!" Jack told the younger man in mock outrage, really wishing someone would come tell him this was some glowy being's idea of a bad joke.

McKay shot the other man a look that would have slain him in his tracks were that possible, while managing to project an air of superiority as well.

"Uh, hello? Yes, listen to the genius. I _said_ there had been a temporal flux, remember? Or doesn't your limited military mentality grasp what that means? Carter's wearing a major's insignia and they've got that funny alien guy with them again."

The Canadian astrophysicist folded his arms smugly, giving the other man a pointed glare. His companion, however, just cocked his head at Carter, arms resting on the butt of the P-90 hanging from his vest.

"You know, Carter, you were right about him. He's as arrogant and annoying as a Gou'ld, but you can't actually shoot him. Make yourself useful, McKay, and find a first aid kit. John clipped his head on that damn machine when he went down and its still bleeding. Ronon, Teyla, according to your pain-in-the-butt team mate, we're clear of Wraith within the shield, but..."

Teyla was quick to speak up from where she knelt beside a form in the shadows, Ronon standing nearby. Jack blinked hard, wondering how they'd gotten there when he hadn't even noticed either of them moving!

"The life signs detector is reliable unless the Wraith are in hibernation, which would be highly unlikely here. What happened to Colonel Sheppard?"

An irritated McKay handed a kit to Daniel's look-alike, who immediately took Teyla's position beside the downed colonel. The scientist then confronted his two team mates.

"Our favorite Ancient Tech activating fly boy _somehow_ got this shield up in spite of the fact that all my readings show there are several damaged connections that _should_ have prevented any such thing. It seemed to be either draining power _from_ him or backlashed it _into_ him, I don't know which. Either way, we have until the shield gives out to figure out how to get through the Wraith and back to At- _the base_- to get him medical help. And watch what you say, our visitors are from approximately three years in the past and I do _not_ have _time_ to fix the time line if you screw it up."

Jack bit back a groan, exchanging long-suffering looks with his team. Time travel was one of his least favorite accidental outcomes of gate travel, mostly because it inevitably led to lengthy confusing explanations from Carter. Ones that left him with migraines if he wasn't lucky enough to fall asleep. Why couldn't they have found themselves a nice normal black hole instead? The older man gifted them all with a pained smile.

"Been there, done that, they wouldn't let me bring back the t-shirt. So, Daniel, all done with the whole glowy bit? And what the hell were those white-haired Incredible Hulk wanna-bes, anyway?"

A purse-lipped glare from the archaeologist made Jack start feeling right at home. It had been _way _too long since he'd gotten one of those.

"They're called Wraith and you should shoot them on sight. That's all you need to know, Jack. Just where were you guys and what happened? We need to figure out how to reverse this mess. At a nod from the still annoyed Jack, Carter offered their former team mate a brief account of their mission.

"We were on M369-X127 exploring some ruins there with a type of writing we'd never seen before. It was a room remarkably similar to this one, but not as well-preserved, as well as an identical console, though that one wasn't glowing."

Daniel and McKay both grimaced, pointedly directing their gazes at Jack, who began to shift nervously.

"What!" He demanded finally, getting more than a little aggravated by the whole situation, which now someone seemed to be implying was his fault. "I didn't do anything!"

"Jack..." Daniel chided his former team leader. "Did you touch anything?"

"Well... I _did _lean on that console. Carter did it earlier and nothing happened! There was a flash of light and some guy who looked like he was dipped in gold paint, then we were here. Getting shot at, I might add!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack noted Carter and Jonas hastily stepping away from another piece of equipment they had both been staring at. Good. They had more than enough headaches already without those two finding more. McKay, meanwhile, _was _touching the glowing console, muttering rapidly to himself, though he seemed to be taking great care in where he put his hands. He was oddly reassured to see the strange warrior, Ronon, taking up a guard position at one door while Teal'c handled the other. At least they wouldn't find themselves surprised by the enemy while they tried to sort this whole mess out.

"Carter, go see if you can give McKay a hand with anything, figure out how long we have before this shield goes down."

At his order, the major nodded, though her eyes flashed with distaste at the notion of dealing with her arrogant counterpart. Jack, meanwhile, moved to check on the status of the young officer whose head was being bandaged by the man who was apparently Colonel Mitchell and the woman, Teyla. At his approach, the man who so resembled Daniel glanced up reassuringly.

"I don't think its too serious. Sheppard always _has _had a hard head."

"Good, 'cause your genius seems to think that shield won't last too long and this really isn't a great defensive area. Just how much do you know about the situation here? Colonel Mitchell, isn't it?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, sir. And not that much. I'm usually with Daniel, Sam and Teal'c, not this bunch. My counterpart here, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, is the one who should be in the lead at the moment. As soon as he bothers to quit lazing around."

"Great. Just peachy. Another day, another snafu."

General Hammond was going to _love _this one. He hated time travel conundrums almost as much as Jack himself, since answers over what happened and why were typically in very short supply.

Mitchell rolled his eyes as if reading Jack's thoughts, though he turned to Teyla with a question instead of commenting.

"Where the hell'd the Wraith come from, anyway? Didn't think they could appear out of thin air like that. John said you were some sort a walking Wraith radar."

The older SG-1 colonel filed that one away for later, instantly seeing the potential advantages of that little ability.

"I am, Colonel Mitchell. It should not have been possible to achieve such complete surprise over us. Ronon and I were on patrol and I sensed nothing. They were surrounding us with no warning whatsoever. Even had I somehow failed to sense them, Ronon should easily have heard the gate open, given our positioning. We heard nothing."

Neither colonel needed to articulate the sinking dread settling over them at _that _news.

The first thing John noticed upon regaining consciousness was just how much his head hurt. What the hell had happened _this _time? And why did the infirmary beds feel like rocky ground? Exhaustion pulled at him, keeping him from forcing his eyes open immediately. At least until an all too familiar voice and tone registered, then he didn't even _try _to bite back a groan.

"-don't know the slightest thing about this technology! You _can't _just jerry-rig a substitute like your assembly line crappy military gear! Now-"

Time to find out just who McKay was yelling at, because as far as John was aware, no one with them would be trying the actions the man was ranting about. He began the potentially painful process of forcing himself to a sitting position, keeping his eyes firmly closed as the dizziness hit. Crap. The last thing he needed right at the moment was a concussion. Hands were quickly there, helping him upright, then gently urging him to scoot his sore body back a bit until he was supported by something hard and cold. Finally, no longer feeling as if he would pitch over, he allowed his eyes to slip open to meet the concerned gazes of Teyla on one side and a man he didn't know on the other.

"Who're you and what Puddle jumper did I get in the way of?"

The man blinked at him in puzzlement for a few seconds as John tried to assess his injuries. Teyla smiled, handing John a canteen, though she kept a firm grip on it so he couldn't gulp the liquid as he wanted to. His team was getting to know him too well, he noted sourly.

"Puddle-jumper? I thought I'd finally learned the names of all the Earth vehicles, but that's one I've never heard before."

The strange man looked to Teyla for an explanation, leaving John confused. Where had this man come from, anyway? He seemed to be wearing typical military gear, but he wasn't anyone John knew, nor did it sound as if he were native to Earth.

"It is not from Earth. It is a vehicle used here. How are you feeling, Colonel?"

"Headache, but I'm good." Gingerly, John reached for the sore spot throbbing on his head only to get his hand softly slapped by the Athosian. "Ow! Hey! What happened anyway? Everyone else all right?"

A fleeting flash of _something_ at his predictable question. "We are fine. What do you remember of the mission we were on?"

John sighed, trying to decide why Teyla was suddenly so intent on playing twenty questions with him before realizing she was doing a neural check. With a wince, he began to search his memory. _Daedalus_ had arrived, he'd dodged Caldwell by taking Cam and Dr. Jackson around... McKay had made an idiot of himself while examining a weird tablet. Right, the mission to explore the ruins, let McKay and Jackson have their fun, then the Wraith showed up and... Nothing. He immediately said as much to Teyla, who nodded reassuringly.

"Whose McKay arguing with anyway? And where'd the shield come from?" The pilot frowned, glancing around his limited area, most of the room blocked by the now glowing console. "McKay!"

At his call, a number of people appeared, crowding around the sitting man, at least one of whom he was certain wasn't supposed to be here. Could they have possibly gotten themselves into even more trouble on his very first mission back? John was going to have to start banning _anyone_ from saying a mission would be _easy, no problem, simple, _or _any_ variation of that idea. They seemed to have been jinxing themselves.

"Oh good, you're awake. Care to tell me what you did this time? And by the way, what part of 'don't touch anything' did your military mentality fail to grasp?"

The Atlantis colonel could feel his anger rising at the snippy tone Rodney had adopted. It was one thing to be rude to your team lead when it was just the team, but quite another when strangers were present.

"I _tripped_, McKay! Falling into the stupid console was sheer bad luck! Now-" John gritted his teeth, sternly reminding himself that the astrophysicist couldn't help his complete lack of people skills and Elizabeth would frown on the man returning home missing pieces. "Would someone care to fill me in on the situation?"

Ten minutes later, he was sorry he'd asked. SG-1 from the past in the wrong galaxy, Wraith outside the shield between them and the gate, and an Ancient device McKay had no idea how to make reverse what it had done, besides having at least one burnt out control crystal McKay would have to return to Atlantis to retrieve a replacement for. Perfect. Carson was going to lock the infirmary doors and never let him out again. John could feel the headache building already. Finally, he glanced over to Jack O'Neill, crouched nearby. There was one last issue that had to be resolved now and it involved one of his very favorite topics- chain of command.

"I realize you're senior to me, sir, but-"

A dismissive wave before he could even finish the tentative suggestion. "You know what's what and Daniel trusts you, so that's good enough for me. Just keep me in the loop as much as possible, please."

The younger colonel didn't bother to hide his relief at those words. If O'Neill had decided to be as big a pain as Caldwell... But he already knew the officer wasn't. Look at what had happened in Antarctica!

"Colonel!"

Three heads snapped around at McKay's irritated call, John immediately struggling to his feet. The trio of colonels responded simultaneously.

**"What?"**

McKay stared at them for a moment, then the eye rolling started. "Not you two, _my _colonel. The one who used to be a major. God, why did they have to go promoting you? As if I didn't have enough new names to learn already..."

John told himself once again that no matter how tired he was, pitching something at the Canadian wasn't going to help.

"McKay... One, we were all majors at one time, that's the way the ranking goes. Two, what did you want?"

"Oh, right. Much as it pains me to admit it, Colonel Carter is right." From the distressed twisting of his features, John almost thought the scientist was constipated.

"You mean _Major_ Carter? The one who's smarter than you are?"

Cam's eye took on a wicked gleam, his Southern drawl intensifying as he needled the other man. John almost smacked him.

"Cam! Not helping here!"

McKay was staring at the SG-1 colonel, face slowly tinging red even as John yelled at his friend. The Atlantis commander knew it wouldn't be long before the eruption and decided to try another source.

"Major Carter? Explanation?"

"Yes, sir. What McKay was _trying_ to say was that the shield will fail in approximately twenty minutes."

One finger went up. "Ah, twenty-three minutes and... thirty-two seconds now, actually."

The astrophysicists _glared_ at each other in annoyance and John concluded that _yes_, it _was _a good thing these two were normally in separate galaxies. Daniel leaned toward the Atlantis colonel and muttered, "I warned you."

Jack stiffened. "All right, kids, separate corners. I assume this means we need options for getting past our white-haired friends out there."

"To go _where_, exactly? We don't even know what _time _we're in! The Wraith appearing so suddenly suggests SG-1 may not have been the only ones moved! If we went back and... the base- quit glaring at me, Sheppard, I know enough not to say the name- is still underwater, we're sunk!"

Several of the gathered group groaned at the inadvertent pun, while the past SG-1 simply smiled, puzzled.

"What if we're _all _in the future?" Jonas Quinn asked.

McKay blinked. "Then we impact the base shield at a velocity that is... much too high. We're in deep trouble."

"Rodney..." John chided his team mate wearily. "That's what the Alpha Site is for. Unfortunately, we're not going to have much choice about going _through_ the Wraith. I just hope they're no longer keeping it active. Ronon, Teyla, Rodney, which ever one of us reaches the gate first, dial the Alpha site and hold it open. Only the gate is in any type of clearing, so they shouldn't be able to use Darts. Cam and Daniel, I want you to stay with Teyla and remember Wraith can make you see things that aren't there. Teal'c, Quinn, you're with Ronon. Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, with McKay and I. Any questions?"

Relief washed through him as everyone silently nodded, even McKay and Carter. None of them particularly _liked_ the plan, but not knowing if anyone was around to even rescue them didn't leave a whole lot of options. The Wraith were in the superior tactical position at the moment, able to simply wait them out or overwhelm them with sheer numbers. They _had _to move.

There wasn't long to wait before the shield began to flicker and John silently cursed as a wave of dizziness rushed through his head. Fortunately, he was already leaning against a wall and a furtive glance around after his head stopped spinning told him no one seemed to have noticed. Good. The _last _thing he wanted was for his team to kick up their 'protect the colonel' streak they'd acquired lately and insist on staying with him. Breaking into groups provided their best chance to scatter the Wraith and win through to the gate.

Above him, the shield began to flash on and off, signaling its imminent failure. A peek at his watch showed Rodney actually off by about 43 seconds. He would have to give the man grief for that later, he noted as yet more vertigo washed over him. Once again, however, it appeared to have gone unnoticed by his companions. Turning, he caught the eye of each member of his little group, receiving a nod of readiness.

"Okay. No stopping for take out on the way, even roast Wraith. Let's go!"


	6. Unwelcome Dinner Guests

Chapter 6: Unwelcome Dinner Guests

_"Okay. No stopping for take-out on the way, even roast Wraith. Let's go!"_

Without further prompting, Teal'c and Ronon set off at a run, herding SG-1's scientist with them. Teyla paused to give her commanding officer a quick jerk of her head to the right before vanishing into the trees in that direction, Daniel and Cam right behind her. Which left John and company to go straight down the middle, the shortest path to the gate. Why was he not surprised? He really needed to have a discussion with his team about this sudden protective streak they'd developed. Not that he could truly blame them after all the trouble he'd found lately. With a grimace, he set off through the ruins, noting that the departure of the other two groups had drawn off the Wraith in the immediate area, at least for now.

They had just begun to hit the thickest part of the surrounding forest several minutes later when the first Wraith stunner shot fizzled past John's head. He should have known their luck wouldn't last that long. All four ducked behind an outcropping of rock, a sturdier defensive screen than the many nearby trees. The arboreal blocks made it hard for the aliens to hit them, but it also drastically cut down on their line of sight, which had them all straining to hear any twigs snapping. The three military officers wordlessly picked up a rhythm to their firing, each taking their turn covering for the others as they began to grimly thin the ranks of the enemy. Not that the Wraith were hard to hit, since they often didn't bother trying to use any kind of cover. No, it just took quite a bit to knock one down and make them _stay _down. Taking a moment to change clips in their respective P-90s while Carter occupied the Wraith, O'Neill glanced over at the younger colonel.

"So what's the deal with these things, anyway? Someone insult their mother?"

John frowned, distracted by a clip that refused to click into place properly, answering with the first thing that came to mind.

"You ever see that sci fi miniseries with Marc Singer? The one with the aliens that turn out to be some weird lizards?"

Jack stared at him for a long moment, then his mind supplied the reference and he winced, taking a guess at what the other man meant.

"Uh oh. On the menu, are we?"

Clip finally cooperating, John nodded to the other colonel and they both popped up, firing, then went back down as several stunner blasts sizzled through where they'd just been.

"Problem is they're picky eaters, too. We're the _only _thing on the menu."

O'Neill grimaced. "Great. I always _did _aspire to be an entrée. Gives new meaning to the words 'food fight'."

"More like fighting food. Don't accept any dinner invitations from these guys and don't let them touch you. Their mouths are on their hands."

Sheppard and O'Neill fired one more long burst together, catching the last of the Wraith facing them in a cross-fire, then silence descended on their little section of the forest. Multiple P-90s and the whine of Ronon's pistol could be heard in the distance, satisfying John that the rest of his expanded team was still up and running. Not that he really expected anything else out of this odd little group.

"Let's go before more show up!"

John got up from his crouch... and fell back on his butt as another round of dizziness overtook him. Vision graying out at the edges, he fought hard to keep a hold on consciousness, firmly telling himself to get everyone safely to the gate, _then _he could pass out for a while. He wasn't surprised to feel hands steadying him, voices talking, but he couldn't focus through the droning buzz in his head. His teeth clenched as he felt himself lifted to a standing position, arms draped over the shoulders of two people, one on either side. The movement intensified the equilibrium problems, however, causing John to squeeze his eyes shut even harder, fighting a suddenly rebellious stomach. He could feel the forward momentum and worked to force his legs into aiding the effort, cursing himself mentally as he went. He was going to get someone killed, slowing them down like this, all because he fell into that stupid Ancient device. He should have put Teyla and Ronon on the inside of the ruins and kept himself on the outside. Stupid, John, really stupid!

Blinking rapidly against the bright sunlight filtering through the trees, he managed to focus on his surroundings. The first thing he noted was the gray-haired colonel leading the way, now sporting _two_ P-90s, one in either hand. Good thing, too, since a Wraith dropped from a tree to land right in front of the man, immediately receiving a welcome of lead. Dropping to the ground behind the nearest tree, John shrugged free of his supporters and pulled his handgun, noting that Carter wasted no time in going to back up her team leader. Thankfully, Wraith didn't seem to use long range lethal hand weapons, which made fighting them a little easier than it might have been otherwise. Ignoring McKay's alarmed squawk, John rolled toward the tree immediately to their left. Coming up in a crouch when he reached roughly halfway, John emptied his clip at two Wraith approaching from the side toward the major. Both enemies seemed to react identically as he completed his maneuver, landing behind the other tree, head feeling as if he'd just done a string of high-G barrel rolls. There were even more Wraith joining the fray as the whine of energy weapons doubled, one bolt shaking the tree John lay behind. Head beginning to settle, he opened his eyes and forced a loudly protesting body back up to lean against the tree, using it as an anchor. At least this way he had a slim chance of defending himself should the aliens manage to flank them. The snap of a twig brought him around fast, nine millimeter up only to see two rolling, bobbing Jonas Quinns staring at him from a few feet away. With a heavy sigh, he relaxed, gun lowering toward the ground.

"That's a great way to get yourself killed!" John growled at the younger man.

Jonas flushed, embarrassed at being caught in such a basic mistake in spite of everything SG-1 had spent a year drilling into his head.

"Sorry. The big guy, Ronon, said I was supposed to cover you and Dr. McKay. He said we're near the gate, but there's still Wraith in between."

Ronon. Well, that at least explained the increase in weapons fire. There would be quite a few Wraith sporting _very _large holes in them soon enough. He would have been insulted at the mere suggestion of two scientists protecting _him _instead of the other way around- had he been able to see straight. This mission was fast working its way up on his personal FUBAR list, though it still had a ways to go to beat the _last _one he'd been on. That world had a thick forest as well, a thought best not to dwell on before he found himself shooting at insane Wraith girls that weren't really there.

"Fine. Keep your head down and don't shoot at anything unless you _know _its the enemy. Got that?"

"Right. Colonel...?"

"Sheppard!"  
McKay appeared by their sides, startling John, who then cursed as his head increased its throbbing.

"What kind of idiotic self-sacrificing stunt was that! Why can't you be a proper invalid and just lay there?"

The astrophysicist was extremely pissed at him. Even John, though, had to admit he had a valid point. The roll he'd pulled _had _been risky, easily getting him killed, but he had his reasons.

"I thought letting a Wraith suck the life out of Carter _might _just be a bad thing for the time line, Rodney! Quit griping and keep an eye out for more!"

A double image of his friend scowled at him for a moment, then eyes narrowed into a penetrating stare. The one that said 'I know you're trying to be Mr. Strong, Stoic Leader hiding the pain and it isn't going to work.' With a soft groan, John closed his eyes, unable to handle _one _Rodney McKay at the moment, let alone _two._

"How bad is it? And don't pull out the 'I'm fine' line or I'll tell Carson to pull out the gowns with the cute little bunnies on them."

John bit back a soft curse at the astrophysicist's words, thinking that it was a little vicious, even as a joke. Unfortunately, Rodney was just angry and worried enough to actually _do _it.

"Exhaustion and maybe a mild concussion, that's all. I'll be fine once we find someplace where we're not getting shot at."

A look of disbelief. "Oh, yeah? Then why are _we _guarding _you _while you can't even keep your eyes open!"

"All clear! Let's go, kids!"

Saved by the com transmitting O'Neill's distinctive voice. Hands grabbed him as he tried to stand up only to have a bolt of pure agony go straight through his head. Then he was once more sinking into the comforting depths of dark unconsciousness.

O'Neill saw the younger colonel go down and swore softly. This was just what they _didn't _need at the moment since it left Jack in command. Not normally a problem for the Special Forces colonel, who all too often operated by the seat of the pants anyway. Except this time, they were in a situation where one wrong move could literally change everything and he'd never know it until it was too late. He _hated_ time travel!

Jack had no clue where they were or where they were trying to go, though it obviously wasn't the SGC by the way they'd been avoiding saying the name. He didn't trust McKay even as far as Jonas could throw him and having him fully brief Carter could result in the very thing they were trying to prevent. To top it all off, he was missing the _Simpsons_. As Homer would say, "Doh!" He _really, really _hated time travel! Wasn't there a Gou'ld with a big mouth, bigger ego, and lots of Jaffa around for him to take care of instead?

First thing was first, though. Get to the gate. Before Jack could say anything, the large man, Ronon, was carefully lifting his team leader over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. His expression dared Jack to argue, then seemed somewhat mollified when the SG-1 colonel just nodded. Carter immediately noted the exchange, and Jack saw her duck her head to hide the smile that would probably have been misunderstood. Casually, he sidled over to her, bending to mutter softly near her ear.

"Care to share the joke, Major?"

The blond's eyes sparkled as she met his gaze. "Ronon has the same expression I've seen on Teal'c's face when _you're _the one injured. The one that says, 'Don't mess with me or you'll be road kill.' As much as I wondered about Sheppard's sanity in putting McKay on his team, he must do _something _right to have that tight knit a team. Did you see McKay with a nine millimeter ready to defend Colonel Sheppard back there? He's changed... I just can't quite decide how."

Jack snorted. "Daniel changed, too, remember?" Then, glancing around for one last check of the expanded group, he raised his voice. "Move out, kids!"

A jerk of his head sent Carter into line near McKay and Jonas, with Ronon carrying his colonel behind them, then Teal'c pulling up the rear. For two people who'd only met an hour ago, the SG-1 leader noted that the two warriors seemed eerily comfortable with one another. Or maybe it wasn't comfort so much as mutual respect and a common goal, similar to the rapport that had built between Jack and Teal'c so long ago on Chulak. Then they were moving and Jack had no further time for speculation, watching for any more of the white-haired super strong aliens, P-90s held at the ready.

It took less than fifteen minutes more of cautious travel through the forest before the tree abruptly stopped just short of the Stargate. So suddenly did they end, in fact, that Jack heard a muffled 'umph' and turned to see Jonas doubled over the DHD, having just walked right _into_ the thing. He rolled his eyes at the Kolownan, then felt his stomach knotting in tension as he examined the dialing device. There really wasn't much familiar about it, a disturbing thought at best.

"Definitely not in Kansas anymore."

His muttered comment was rewarded by a tight smile from Carter and a deeper then usual frown on Teal'c's dark features. Jonas, however, seemed fascinated to the point that McKay was forced to impatiently shove the man aside to dial.

"Hello! Crawling with life-sucking aliens who could trap us at any moment! MOVE!"

Polite didn't even appear to cross McKay's mind, not that Jack could blame him. The scientist slammed his hand down on symbol after symbol, sputtering under his breath the whole time. Jack, meanwhile, was struck by the utter alieness of the DHD and chevrons. Hell, even the _gate_ acted differently as McKay activated the symbols, each one glowing like track lighting as they locked instead of the whole thing spinning. And _blue _instead of the dark orange he was used to! Just where _were_ they that even _this _constant was gone? A familiar whoosh and he was oddly reassured to see that the _wormhole_, at least, looked the same! The colonel had been half afraid it would be _purple_ or something! Energy crackling past his head told him their small breather was over.

"McKay, you and Jonas get Sheppard through! We'll hold this side and wait for the third group!"

For a second, Jack thought the Canadian was actually going to _argue_, then Ronon appeared by them, glaring.

"Get Sheppard to safety, McKay!"

The large man's growl seemed to reassure the astrophysicist and he bent to lift the young colonel, who lay behind the relative shelter of the DHD. Hoisting the unconscious man between them, Jonas and Rodney quickly disappeared through the event horizon, leaving Jack to breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone left now was either military or knew how to fight. He and his companion quickly knelt near the Ancient device, firing as more Wraith appeared from the trees. A staff blast from the right told him Teal'c had taken cover behind a tree and he could see Carter to his left from the corner of his eye, behind a large rock. Jack peppered the aliens with both P-90s, his and Sheppard's, then dropped down to change clips. His radio crackled to life once more.

"This is McKay, we're through and the Alpha Site is clear."

Good, 'cause these things were proving almost as hard to kill as one of Daniel's Unas. Then he saw one fall not far from him with a very large hole through it, smoking, and glanced at Ronon, who gave him a feral grin.

"Nice. Where can I get one of those?"

The man snorted, head bobbing in an approving nod.

"That's what Sheppard asked, too. Teyla and the others on your right, near your friend."

The SG-1 leader immediately turned toward Teal'c, but didn't see anyone besides the Jaffa. Before he could question it, however, three people emerged from the brush at a run, one limping. What now?

"Through the gate, NOW!"

None of them stopped to question him as they hurried past. Daniel, however, did give him a rueful 'Don't ask' as he whipped by doing a strange hop/jog, avoiding weight on his left ankle. Jack grinned as the last four fell back through the blue puddle, leaving their enemies behind. At least _some _things never changed!

TBC... You don't think all the fun's done yet, do you? LOL


	7. Timing Issues

Chapter 7: Timing Issues

John literally bolted upright as he regained consciousness, alarm racing through him, wildly searching for enemies. His mind only registered the glow of the gate and the stand of nearby trees.

"Wraith!"

As soon as he blurted the word, he realized the area looked familiar, but not because they were still on the planet where he'd blacked out. Alpha Site. Right. McKay was sitting nearby, a shocked stare still on his face, hands propping him up where John must have knocked him with his abrupt awakening. Noting the pilot actually focusing on him, the shock turned to an annoyed grimace as he pushed himself back up to crouch near the other man.

"Not here, thank you very much. We're just waiting for the others to quit gawking and come through. You've really got to knock off this fainting stuff, its starting to get rather annoying. For a toothpick, you weigh too damn much."

John rolled his eyes at the caustic wit of his friend, then instantly regretted it as another wave of vertigo hit. Hands pressed him on both sides and he allowed them to guide him back until he was laying against what felt like McKay's backpack. There was, at a guess, a power bar sticking him in the spine. This spell wasn't anywhere near as severe or as long lasting as the previous ones, though, so he was soon able to reopen his eyes, meeting the concerned gaze of Jonas Quinn while McKay was anxiously watching the event horizon, nine millimeter clenched in one hand. Which reminded John of a little issue he had...

"Where the hell did _you _come from, anyway?! I thought I told Ronon to circle around!"

Jonas flushed, head darting to stare at the leaf-covered ground.

"Yeah, well, Ronon had other ideas and Teal'c and I weren't exactly in a position to argue with him. He was shadowing you."

Yep, a short not-so-polite discussion with his team was definitely in order. Contrary to certain doctors' beliefs, Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard was not made of spun glass. His rising temper, however, was cut short by the appearance of Teyla coming through the event horizon at a run followed closely by Cam. Two down, five to go.

Daniel showed up next, only seconds behind, stumbling and hitting the ground just as he emerged. Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to immediately roll to the side since Carter came barreling after him, narrowly missing her friend. Teal'c was another several seconds, which left only two, Jack O'Neill and Ronon, who had obviously taken over John's normal position of rear guard.

30 seconds, 45 seconds, a full minute... nothing.

"Come on, dammit, where are you guys..."

The mutter was universally echoed and so soft John wasn't even sure who had said it. Then both came through at the same time, one last stunner bolt along with. Missing the last two travelers, it caused Cam to flatten himself to the ground with the razor sharp instincts of a fighter pilot, passing harmlessly through the space where he'd just stood. The gate shut down without any more parting gifts from their enemies and the tension instantly eased in multiple bodies. Cam stood back up, grinning at the older colonel, a twinkle in his eye that instantly spelled trouble.

"You're not supposed to bring souvenirs with you, sir."

John bit back a chuckle at Cam's own absurd brand of humor. Comments like that had gotten the pilot into plenty of trouble with officers who thought a sense of humor _definitely_ didn't go with the uniform. Fortunately, Jack O'Neill could never be accused of that!

"Sorry. They insisted and my mother taught me never to be rude." Jack allowed a smile to flash briefly on his face with his flippant answer.

Grabbing on to McKay's arm to steady himself, John carefully pulled himself to his feet, concerned that the team stationed here had yet to put in an appearance. They were under standing orders to take cover if the gate opened and assess the threat before approaching, true, but they should have come out upon seeing their commanding officer and his team. Something wasn't right here. First, though, he wanted to be sure his current charges were all in one piece.

"Everyone okay? The camp isn't far."

A derisive snort from McKay. "You mean everyone other than you? 'Cause there's no way you qualify as okay even under your own backwards definition of the word!"

John pointedly ignored the other man, which was somewhat hard to do as he was still using McKay as a crutch, steadying himself against the intermittent bouts of his swimming head. He really needed to lie down and rest for a while. His concern focused on Daniel, though, who was standing carefully with some help from Teal'c and Carter.

"Dr. Jackson?"

"I turned my ankle running but I don't think its anything serious." Daniel shrugged, though the Atlantis colonel noted he didn't try putting weight on it. "Should be fine after a few hours with a cold pack."

So, himself with a possible concussion, dizziness, and exhaustion, and Daniel with a sprained ankle. They could have come out of that a lot worse. Nobody'd even caught a stunner! A gentle tug by McKay and they set off around the hill, the camp used by the team pulling Alpha Site duty only a five minute walk even as slowly as they were going. The first sight of the place, though...

"I thought this was supposed to be an Alpha Site."

Daniel's soft comment received a growl from Ronon as John stood, muttering curses in angry denial. The place was ruined. Equipment lay scattered about, much of it broken, and the remnants of the main tent hung in shreds from the only one of the four corner poles to stay standing. Even the privy was destroyed, broken and twisted wood lying in a heap the only thing left to mark the spot where it once stood. A glance at Teyla yielded a quick, sad shake of the head. They'd come too late to even exact revenge. John slowly sank to the ground, head going down on his drawn up knees, unable to continue examining the sickening sight. Vaguely, he heard someone tell him Ronon was going to scout the mess, but his mind was too busy racing, trying to remember which team was up for their two week rotation on the planet.

Who had he lost now? Stackhouse? Miller? Yang? _Lorne? _How many more letters home? It didn't take much imagination to figure out what had happened here. They'd seen it too many times on too many other worlds. The signs were as easy to read as if they'd been written in neon. The Alpha Site had been culled.

"You look like you know what happened here."

At Jack's comment, John lifted his aching head back off his knees, meeting the puzzled, worried faces of SG-1.

"Yeah. Wraith. McKay, go back and dial...the base. If we're really lucky, maybe some of the team made it through the gate before..."

He couldn't finish, failure biting deep. John knew that he would lose people, especially to the Wraith, but that didn't mean he could just brush the deaths off. The mournful silence was broken by the distinctive sound of the gate activating, then multiple radios crackled to life around him, resulting in McKay in surround sound. Several people instantly reached to turn down the offending items while John absently noted the scientist's careful hailing of 'the base' as opposed to 'Atlantis'. The man was finally learning to watch what he said. At least ten percent of the time, anyway. The lack of answer, however, sent another surge of alarm through the pilot. What else could possibly have gone wrong? Grimly, he reached up to his ear to activate his own com. There really wasn't much they could do at the moment.

"Leave it, McKay."

The soft scuff of a boot brought his head up to meet the raging dark eyes of the Satedan. Somehow, John suspected that fire would never be quenched until all the Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy were dead or the man died trying. The man's face, however, bore a faintly puzzled cast, almost as if he couldn't believe what he'd found. Silence stretched as John found himself reluctant to ask the dreaded question, only galvanized into doing so by the hurried return of a grouchy McKay.

"Well, Ronon?"

"Definitely Wraith."

The answer shouted Ronon's own reluctance to give voice to whatever was bothering him.

"Thank you, Mr. Blatantly Obvious."

The other three members of the Atlantis team ignored McKay's snide shot at the former Runner, recognizing the scientist's rather unusual defense mechanism, but John caught Carter rolling her eyes in exasperation while Cam and Jack both grimaced. The older colonel glared daggers at the offending man while casually asking the group, "Anybody bring some super glue?"

Teyla fought down a laugh at that while Rodney scowled. John found his own lips twitching ever so slightly, his own coping skills ensuring he couldn't leave the question alone.

"Don't bother, colonel, it won't work. Neither will threatening to shoot him. How long ago, Ronon?"

The large man simply grunted, already adapting to his new friends and their strange ways.

"Two months, possibly three."

John immediately fought to contain the nausea as his brain informed him of the implications of that answer. The teams had just rotated site duties three days before the _Daedalus_ arrived. To find it destroyed now...

"We're no longer in our own time, are we?"

Rodney's gloom and doom tone came quickly, but for once no one on his team really felt able to contradict him. It would certainly explain too much of what had been going on. John slumped back against the hillside, mentally running through options, discarding one after another. They really needed to find a way to regain control of the situation, but the Pegasus Galaxy was once again determined to ensure that wasn't a simple thing to do.

"What about the MALP we always leave here? We could send it through ahead of us, see if it impacts the gate shield."

Rodney's question had them all turning to the Satedan, who instantly shook a head full of dreadlocks negatively.

"Looks badly damaged."

"McKay..."

"I'm on it, colonel. Where is it?" The astrophysicist gifted his leader with a put upon grumble. "Don't go expecting miracles. I don't have any spare parts or decent tools to work with and nowhere on my resumé does it say 'MacGyver'!"

"Carter, give McKay a hand, see what the two of you can come up with."

O'Neill gave a jerk of his head toward Rodney, who seemed suddenly rather chipper with the notion that he would be working with the woman while his fellow astrophysicist shook her head resignedly.

"You _so_ owe me for this one, sir."

John barely heard the quiet mutter directed at her own team leader as she waved at McKay to lead the way to the damaged machine. Ronon gave them quiet, short directions and the two set off, heads already bent toward one another in consultation. Daniel, seated nearby with Jonas carefully helping him wrap his swelling ankle in an Ace, smiled as he watched them walk away.

"Are you guys sure that was such a good idea? They might kill each other before too long."

The archaeologist's tone was purposely light, teasing, earning answering grins from the others.

Jack snorted. "Somehow I doubt McKay'd be the one doing the killing, Daniel. At least not intentionally. He damn near electrocuted her not that long ago."

Daniel quickly shook his head at his old friend. "For you, maybe it was recent, but not for him. He really has changed, Jack, and for the better from what I've seen. Now, he's more like Sam was when we first started going through the gate- irritated when science told her one thing and reality another, but learning to improvise."

"Dr. McKay has become, as Colonel Sheppard has described it on more than one occasion, quite good at 'pulling miraculous saves out of various parts of his anatomy.'"

Teyla deliberately pretended not to see the hastily covered laughs of Cam and John, both aware that the Athosian was diplomatically paraphrasing John's actual language. The SG-1 colonel obviously knew it, too, but just shrugged tiredly.

"We'll see. Since we may be here a while waiting for yet another scientific wonder, maybe we should see what kind of camp we can cobble together from this mess."

Everyone immediately began rising from their various positions, but when John attempted to join them, he was stopped short by several hands and a protesting head. Items landed in his lap with a thump even as he waited out the whirling, someone's hand planted on his shoulder to steady him. Finally, his vision cleared to find Ronon providing the anchor while Teyla and Jack stood nearby, silently watching, and an MRE and canteen laying in his lap. Daniel was still seated a few feet away, adjusting an instant cold pack from the medical kit on his ankle. As soon as the other colonel saw John looking at him, he leveled a stern finger at the younger officer.

"_You_ just worry about resting and getting your stomach settled enough to eat that. Daniel, your job is to keep that ankle elevated and watch _him_. Yell if he even looks like he's going to get up. As soon as we have some decent shelter set up, we'll come and get you two."

Hackles instantly rising at being, as John saw it, treated like a helpless child, he opened his mouth to object, face darkening in anger and embarrassment. He locked gazes with O'Neill, glaring, only to be met with matching stubbornness. Jack finally broke the impromptu staring contest with a grimace. Neither one noted McKay approaching at a fast trot, self-congratulating smirk on his face.

"I need you rested and healthy to lead this insane bunch when we leave for your base, colonel. Once our dynamic duo of brainiacs come up with a way to prevent us imitating a bug on a windshield, that is... What?!"

The last sharp question was prompted by John's involuntary flinch and intake of breath at Jack's words. Not to mention a low, rumbling growl from John's large team mate, still standing just behind him.

"Jack..."

Daniel worked hard to keep the amusement from his voice, knowing Sheppard's team wouldn't appreciate thinking he was laughing at what their leader had just been through. His old friend just couldn't seem to help stepping in verbal holes, reminding the younger man strongly of their interactions when Daniel's memory was full of its own gaps. Ones Jack had hit with an appalling regularity.

"Colonel Sheppard hates the B-U-G word about as much as you hate the A word. You know, the one associated with the-"

"Colonel Antarctica, a word please?"

Rodney was looking right at the Atlantis commander when he was smacked on the arm, his response coming automatically until it dawned on him that John couldn't have done it.

"Hey! Sheppard! What- Wait a minute, who hit me?!"

Turning, he came face to face with a scowling Jack O'Neill.

"What was _that _for?! I was talking to Sheppard!"

John really couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. The Atlantis Chief Scientist seemed to have contracted an incurable case of foot-in-mouth disease around members of SG-1, past and present.

"Rodney..." Sheppard gasped, struggling to address the man with the same chiding tone Daniel had used a few minutes before, but still not able to contain his mirth. "_Think_ about what you just tried calling me and who you're standing next to! You've read most of the SG-1 mission reports!"

The others saw the gears turning in the genius' head, then the the light finally went on and he flushed hard, glancing guiltily at O'Neill.

"I didn't- I meant- That wasn't supposed to-"

The older colonel fixed the sputtering man with a disgusted glare, then softened it slightly as he realized Rodney was actually trying to apologize.

"Just drop it, McKay. Did you want something, or did you decide you needed to annoy us?"

"Yes! Major Carter and I are working on a MALP of some kind, but its going to take a while. Don't expect much out of it, either, with the junk we have to work with. Contrary to popular belief, I can't fix anything simply because you want me to!"

"That's fine, Rodney, just get us something that will tell us if the gate shield is down or not. That's all we need. As for time, we don't have any Wraith or other assorted nasties breathing down our necks at the moment, so no hurry."

John shrugged, silently glad it would take the two a while to cobble something together. He really did need the rest.

Rodney grimaced at the exhaustion and suppressed pain he detected in John's voice. The man was really hurting to be that obvious about it, something that had the astrophysicist close to launching into panic mode. Still, short of Carson's care, a safe place with shelter for Sheppard to rest in was their best alternative. He'd better go speak with Carter, see if they could delay pulling this one off too fast.

The sooner it was done, the sooner Sheppard would insist on returning to Atlantis, whether he was physically fit to deal with whatever was causing them not to respond or not.

Really, it was a wonder the man was still alive the way he went rushing headlong into danger without a thought for his own skinny hide! What had Sheppard done before Rodney came along and took time out from his universe saving work to look out for the man?

Amused with his own cleverness, the genius turned to go find his oh-so-attractive counterpart only to have his elbow firmly grabbed by Jack O'Neill when he had taken several steps away from his injured colonel.

"Any reason you know of for this thing to be done before the morning?"

Jack's muttered question surprised Rodney, but then, if Sheppard looked bad enough for the normally oblivious genius to notice...

"Morning should be fine, general...er, colonel. We can't reach the base, but there could be lots of reasons for that and not really much we could do about it that doesn't involve foolishly suicidal heroics."

A sour grimace aimed at John Sheppard left Jack with no doubt who was being referred to. Seemed more and more like the kid was a man after his own heart. With a twinkle in his eye, he went off to see what kind of camp could made for the night while Rodney went back to his work. Fate seemed to finally be favoring this odd bunch. After all, if these people from the future knew him as _General_ O'Neill, then that meant they had to get out of this.

Didn't it?

_Author's Note: Tsk, tsk, Jack. You should never count your iratus bugs before they're hatched!!_


	8. Home Sweet Atlantis?

Chapter 8: Home Sweet Atlantis?

By morning, John felt about eighty percent better, though a bout of dizziness when he got up warned him against any more running battles with the Wraith for a while. In the Pegasus Galaxy? Yeah, right, he had a great chance of _that_! At the moment, though, all was quiet as he sat with Cam, Jack, Teyla, and Jonas, enjoying a porridge the Athosian had created with local berries and some dried oat meal mix she'd found in the remains of the camp. In John's opinion, it beat a power bar or MRE hands down, though McKay was highly unlikely to agree. Not that the scientist was around to debate the issue anyway. He was still holed up on the far side of their makeshift camp, pouring over the newly dubbed 'mini-MALP' with Major Carter.

No gun shots or screaming had been heard lately, so Jack and John had come to the mutual conclusion that it was best to leave the two be. They'd promised their creation would be ready to display its abilities after everyone finished breakfast. Which actually meant when John himself was done, since he was the last one up. He'd noted his quiet exclusion from the watch schedule as well. Both had the young colonel short tempered and snappish. His team was feeling the need to treat him with kid gloves, like an antique. It looked weathered and strong on the outside, but if handled roughly, it might shatter. It was an idea he was sure would never have crossed their minds prior to recent events and didn't like it one bit. _Weak_ wasn't even supposed to be in a military man's vocabulary, especially not in front of his team.

"Hey! Colonel Target!" McKay's rather unique hail had all three officers grinning before turning as one to the prickly astrophysicist.

"**Yes?**" "What?" "What'd ya want, McKay?"

All three answered, a wicked grin lighting up Cam's face. It hadn't taken long for the current SG-1 leader to pick up on what the other two were doing, waiting to see what weird nickname the genius tried next. It _was _pretty funny, seeing the slack, shocked look on McKay's face when more than one of them answered. He resembled someone just slammed on the back of the head with a two by four. 'Colonel Target' really _could_ apply to any of them, anyway, since alien nasties seemed almost clairvoyant in their ability to pick out the leader and go after them. Hell, even alien artifacts zeroed in on them! Rodney rolled his eyes at the military men, but focused in on his own leader.

"If you're finally done playing lazy, we're ready to send our probe through. No camera, but I was able to rig something to read atmosphere and life signs in the immediate area." A clearing of the throat behind him, very deliberate, had Rodney's face tinging ever so slightly red. "Yes, well, Major Carter helped as well."

"It just about killed you to say that, didn't it?"

The blond Air Force officer crossed her arms, shaking her head in mock disbelief at the man. Rodney, for his part, just grinned, telling John this was a familiar game to both of them. He didn't bother to correct the woman, then, though he now knew McKay well enough to know it wasn't always arrogance behind such tactless comments. It was a burning need for approval instead, reinforcement that yes, someone really did pay attention to and appreciate his work. He was trying to convince _himself_ he was as good as he claimed, _then _the true arrogance came out. Rodney had been a lot less sure of himself lately than he let on, especially after the whole Ancient super weapon fiasco. At the moment, the scientist's face was flushed at Carter's needling, albeit good-natured, question.

"I..no...its just- Look, it doesn't matter right now. We need to get home so I can search the database for some answers and get those parts. The sooner we do that, the sooner all of this can be undone!"

John instantly nodded, carefully standing up, but pain and his buddy vertigo seemed to be snoozing for the time being.

"Good job, McKay, Major. Let's go see if any body's home or if we need to break out the swim trunks."

Cam, however, was shaking his head doubtfully, making John pause. His friend may not be that familiar with the Pegasus Galaxy, but his instincts were usually good.

"Listen, folks, I know I'm kinda the junior partner in all this, but isn't returning to your base a big risk with the time line? Isn't there anywhere else you can get your spares for that souped up teleporter?"

McKay's head began shaking back and forth immediately after Cam first opened his mouth, picking up speed and force as the former F-302 pilot voiced his concerns. Trading an amused glance with Teyla, John tried to decide if the scientist could possibly break his own neck even as he once again got ready to intervene between the two. Even Carter seemed to have less of a problem getting along with McKay than Cam had lately.

"NO, no, no, no! What is it with the military and their inane questions? Do you think I _want_ to spend the next ten years in the frozen backwardness of Siberia? This is a necessary risk because _we _need to know what time we're in, too, or we may be completely screwed!"

'Screwed' appeared to be McKay's favorite panic word. John closed his eyes, pinching his nose against the building headache labeled 'Rodney'. Duct tape really needed to be added as a standard supply for all off world teams. He just wasn't exactly sure whose mouth he wanted to use it on right now, Rodney's or Cam's. Maybe both. John didn't bother keeping the irritated growl out of his tone.

"_Rodney_. Go dial the damned gate! _Cam_. A little trust here, please. The members of my team know what they're doing, the same as yours, but you're on _my_ playing field at the moment, so _back off_! Too many coaches and your game starts to suck, just ask the Golden Gophers!"

The other lieutenant colonel rolled his eyes, but had the humility to look embarrassed at needing to have the facts so blatantly shoved in his face. He waved the small group toward the gate, conceding his friend's point with a silent apology. Cam had just heard too many horror stories about McKay from SGC personnel to feel comfortable trusting the man. Too bad _his _Sam Carter wasn't here, up to speed, and able to tell him just how far out of bounds her counterpart was running them. Instead, he settled for a slightly sour purse-lipped stare at John.

"Remind me again why I bust my butt taping all those college football games for you?"

"Because I saved your worthless hide after you went down in Bosnia?"

"Hey! _Both_ your hides are going to be in jeopardy if you don't lay off the _Minnesota_ Golden Gophers!"

Cam and John both turned in surprise to stare at Jack O'Neill as the man pointedly emphasized the word 'Minnesota'.

"Didn't know you followed college football, sir."

One eyebrow went up as the current leader of SG-1 regarded the past leader curiously.

"He doesn't. Jack just takes any jokes about his home state personally unless he's the one making them. Oh, and don't let him talk you into going fishing in his lake. There's a slight problem with no inhabitants."

Daniel grinned wickedly at his old friend, daring him to contradict the statement. Before they could get any further, however, they finally reached their destination.

"Are the lot of you quite finished?"

Arms crossed, McKay stood next to the DHD, tapping a foot impatiently. If looks could kill, the Atlantis scientist would have been flayed and stuffed for cooking on the spot by Sam.

"No EM fields or other potentially deadly hazards, sir. I designed most of the MALP systems, so it should work."

Rodney turned to the major at her words to her team leader, eyes narrowing, then a slight smile flitted across his lips.

"Shouldn't the MALP be pointed _at _the gate, then?"

Stunned silence from the major for a long minute, then a laugh.

"You're good, McKay and I probably deserved that." A blond head ducked, slightly embarrassed, though the smile stayed on her face. Reaching down, she carefully turned what looked like a large metallic bread box toward the Stargate. "Better?"

"Much, thank you, major."

A quick punching of the DHD buttons and the wormhole lept to life, then McKay placed his ever-present lap top on the dialing device, Carter hovering at his shoulder. Several clicks had the box-on-wheels rolling forward and through the event horizon. Ten people held their collective breaths as the computer screen showed the object in transit, then-

"Its still transmitting. Your base doesn't have its iris closed, McKay. Breathable atmosphere, but no life signs in the immediate vicinity." Carter shook her head in puzzlement.

"That'd explain why no one was answering. Well, let's go get what McKay needs. Ronon, Teyla, on point with me. Rodney, you, Daniel, and Quinn stay in the middle where we can easily cover you, then the extended SG-1 brings up the rear. If there's Wraith or an immediate threat, shoot to kill, otherwise nonlethal force only."

With that, P-90 at the ready, he stepped through the puddle, almost afraid of what he might find.

John almost tripped over the first body, only a few feet from the gate. It confirmed his worst fears, shrunken, dried, a wisps of white hair still attached to the skull. A low rumble from his side and the Satedan was off, stalking to the perimeter of the Gaterium. A quick glance at Teyla with a silent question, receiving a shake of the head in answer. She wasn't sensing any live Wraith here, just the dead scattered across the floor.

"Uh oh. What the hell- OH! EEW! I think I'm gonna puke!"

Rodney's voice behind him, sounding appalled and disgusted. With a pained sigh, fighting renewed dizziness, John turned to find out what the scientist had done this time. The sight that greeted him had the colonel biting back a laugh. Rodney stood there, frantically attempting to shake something from his foot while the others dodged the flailing body. The members of the older SG-1 were staring around in shock, either at the city itself or the dead Wraith near the gate... With a shoe print in the middle of it?! Okay, so maybe this time his high-strung team mate had a reason for wanting to throw up! Unfortunately, there were other things that needed to be attended to. He bent to the nearest human body, garbed in standard Atlantis military gear, and began to search for dog tags. To distract himself from his grim duty, he kept most of his attention focused on his still hopping team mate.

"How many times have I told you to watch where you're walking, McKay?"

"Not funny, Sheppard! I just stepped in Wraith guts! What the _hell _happened here?!"

Cam snorted, answering before John could. "You put your foot in it, McKay, that's what."

Fortunately for John's sanity, Ronon reappeared before Rodney could recover from his outrage enough to react.

"Looks obvious, McKay. Wraith. Two months ago maybe."

Alarm bells were already ringing in John's head as he reached to pull the tags, then blanched as he truly looked at the fallen soldier for the first time. Dizziness and a sudden pounding throb in his head even as he firmly told himself it wasn't possible. But the body... he'd woken stifling a scream too many times, an almost identical image in his head, just not _here_, on Atlantis.

"John? What is wrong?"

Teyla's gentle shake brought him around, though the Athosian woman was less distinct to him than the Wraith Queen and her victim. Dog tags fell from suddenly nerveless fingers, only to be caught be Cam Mitchell. He squinted at them, struggling to read the name on the blood caked metal.

"Marshall Sumner. Wasn't he the original expedition CO?"

"He died over a year and a half ago on another planet! This is way beyond not good, Sheppard!"

Rodney's sputtering cut off as he noted just how pale the Atlantis colonel had gone. The man was beginning to sway alarmingly, too, despite Teyla and Cam both steadying him. The life-signs detector was hurriedly stuffed into a pocket, forgotten, as he moved to help them with the obviously still ill man.

"So much for the infamous Sheppard 'I'm fine.' You faint for the third time in two days and I'm telling Carson where to stick his thermometers!" The Canadian paused to note everyone staring at him, aghast. "In you, I mean, Colonel! Jeez! Would it kill you to just once admit how badly you're really hurt?"

Ignoring Rodney, Cam and Teyla helped John slowly sink down to sit with his back against the side of the gate, carefully avoiding bodies. Dizziness, nausea, headache, spots spinning through his vision even as the edges attempted to gray out. It was all back, worse than before and John didn't have a clue as to why. With a weary humph, he locked eyes with the astrophysicist, hazel to blue.

"No, McKay, but it just might kill _you_. Especially when people start disobeying my orders to 'protect' me!"

A dark look at the Satedan, who simply shrugged it off, not about to apologize for keeping alive the man who'd given him a new chance at life.

"McKay! You might wanna come look at this!"

The call brought everyone's attention to Major Carter, who'd already made her way up to the control consoles. Currently, she was standing behind the DHD, frowning at something on the floor. At John's nod, he relinquished his place by Sheppard to Teyla and joined Colonel O'Neill and Daniel in moving to the woman's side. Teyla and John both saw him blanch again, then his lips thinned in a look that never boded well for the team. Blinking against the pain, John closed his eyes, muttering.

"Come on, Rodney, what's going on now?"

A reassuring hand on his shoulder and a canteen held to his lips. Even though the water was warm and slightly metallic, it tasted wonderful. He immediately began to fight to stand himself up, find out what was wrong this time.

"Dr. McKay? Colonel Sheppard would know what Major Carter has found!"

Teyla's tone was laced with the frustration of trying to keep her team leader sitting down. It was a battle the Athosian was definitely going to lose if they didn't get an answer from Rodney soon.

"Someone destroyed the control crystal allowing intergalactic dialing! And...hold on!"

The young colonel ground his teeth in frustration, waiting through the sudden silence for the other proverbial shoe to drop. Why would Atlantis have been left intact if they were forced to flee from the Wraith? The plan had always been to trigger the self-destruct while taking the gate control crystal with them. And why leave Sumner's dog tags on a body that looked way too much like his former CO? A message of some kind to John telling him where they'd gone? _That _really didn't bear thinking about since the colonel had died on one of two planets known to be infested with iratus bugs! There were _dozens_ of other worlds they could have picked! McKay finally appeared on the balcony just as the pilot felt solid enough to reopen his eyes.

"The self-destruct is called up ready to be armed and the Ancient database is partially corrupted! Looks like Radek's virus, except it didn't complete the job, and... Its not quite right, somehow. Almost as if someone other than Radek worked on it at some point. Sheppard, don't you dare try standing up because you resemble death warmed over!"

Sheppard winced, suspecting that for once his friend was understating the case. He certainly felt like it, teetering on the edge of blacking out yet again. What was with this? He'd been fine this morning!

"You look like you could use some help, son."

The familiar Scottish brogue had never been so welcome to John's ears. He was so happy he could have hugged the man, gratefully submitting to anything the doctor wanted, even the inevitable lecture about getting hurt again so soon. Besides, Carson Beckett meant a source for answers as to what was going on around here. The physician walked slowly into the open toward the sick man, wearing full off-world gear, his normal medical pack on his back. As he got closer, though, John noted that the gear seemed a bit worn and Carson cradled a Wraith stunner instead of a nine millimeter.

"Doc! Am I glad to see you! What the hell happened around here?"

John didn't bother reprimanding the doctor for not noting the others in the room, both on the balcony and near him. It really wouldn't do any good since Carson had tunnel vision when presented with a potential patient. He'd even tried treating a Wraith once! The genial Scot's next words, though, sent cold racing down John's spine.

"I'm sorry, son, have we met before?"

Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait between chapters RL has been a real pain lately. I hope you enjoyed the latest installment and as always please review. Pyro


	9. Prior Engagement

Chapter 9: Prior Engagement

John flinched at the calm question from the physician, not bothering to hide his dismay. He should have known it would be too much to ask that something begin going _right _on this crazy mission! With a sigh, he noted that Rodney, who had been moving down the stairs to rejoin them when Carson came in, had also stopped dead in his tracks.

"What do you mean, 'do you know him'?! Carson, he's getting his accident prone rear end hauled into your infirmary so often you threatened to move his quarters there! You just got done un-mutating him! Remember- blue, scaly, liked imitating Spider-man? Any of this ringing any bells, or have you been dipping into Radek's home brew?" A pause, with the physician staring at him, eyes wide. "You going to answer me or just keep staring at me like _I _turned into something?"

"Bloody hell, it isn't possible!"

The soft, fervent exclamation was the only response from the doctor as he continued to stand with a gaping mouth, gaze locked on the astrophysicist. John's headache suddenly spiked and he let out an involuntary groan of pure pain. Couldn't this universe give him even a few days feeling normal? The upside, though, was that Carson reacted as if he'd been zapped with electricity, rapidly kneeling by the colonel and beginning an assessment. Somehow, after everything he'd been through lately, all the days in the infirmary, just having the man there with him made John calmer. Ironic, considering the man had been the unwitting catalyst for all the dominoes recently crashing down around John's head. The ones that came complete with insanity and weird eyes.

"You have no idea-"

Another voice snapped all their heads around.

"Carson, Bates isn't too happy you- You're dead!"

This time Rodney's mouth was gaping open as well, returning the shocked stare of the other two people who'd just walked into the Gaterium. One of them, however, Markham, had his P-90 in ready position, gaze flickering from person to person, assessing threat potential. Which, of course, caused SG-1 to have their own weapons in ready position, except for Daniel, who was also gaping at the latest speaker- Doctor Peter Grodin. The man who'd died repairing the Ancient defense satellite during the siege six months ago. John leaned his swimming head back against the rim of the gate, trying to decide if he'd now started to hallucinate.

"Ahh... Carson, I'm seeing dead people here."

In the sudden silence, the pilot's quiet mutter was as loud as a shout.

"So are we."

Grodin whispered, beginning to step forward only to meet Markham's restraining hand. The man was reacting as any trained soldier would to the sudden appearance of unknown people.

"Doctor Beckett, I'd prefer you slowly stand up and move over here with us. Who are you people and what do you want?"

John frowned as Beckett stayed stubbornly planted in a kneel in front of him, stethoscope pressed against his chest. Granted, Markham was supposed to be as dead as Grodin, but he should have recognized John, Rodney, and Teyla, at least. Just what the hell was going on around here, anyway? Over the doc's shoulder, hazel eyes met blue.

"Rodney, somehow I think we just jumped way past 'screwed'."

"I think that would be an understatement, since if you don't answer the question- NOW- I'm going to treat you as hostiles. Doc, I want you over here, no argument."

John and Teyla winced, both recognizing the voice of Atlantis' old security officer, Sergeant Bates. Who was _supposed_ to be safely ensconced on an SG team back on Earth, much to the relief of many on Atlantis. The man had been good at his job, but carried military paranoia to an almost xenophobic extreme, often putting him in conflict with his CO and the Athosians. Especially Teyla. With him here, this situation was likely to go south _fast, _and John simply didn't have the energy to deal with it. He was having difficulties just keeping his vision clear and himself conscious, let alone handling his prickly former subordinate. He hurt all over now, pulsating, piercing pain that left him gasping on the very edge of passing out. How could it have gotten so bad, so quickly? This was much more than simple exhaustion! Hands on him, gently easing him to the floor, then carefully checking for injury. Quiet questions in that reassuring Scottish brogue and the musical lilt of Teyla's answers. Mentally, John cheered the doctor on for ignoring Bates in favor of someone who needed help even as another part of him noted he'd have to speak to him about standard procedure and safety protocols.

Jack noted Sheppard fading out again and swore softly. Whatever that machine was the man had activated, it did a lot more than give him a jolt. Kind of like Jack's own experiences with items left behind by the Ancients, especially that blasted head sucker thing. He'd seemed fine, too, until he started speaking a language no one knew.

Now, McKay was talking a mile a minute to a sergeant who seemed to have no inclination to believe a word that was said. At least what a _civilian _tried to tell him. He looked vaguely familiar, too.

"Lower your weapon, sergeant, that's an order!"

Jack knew how to bark as bad as his bite when he needed to. The other man stiffened, but didn't obey Jack nor tell the other two soldiers to do so. Poor kids were looking mighty nervous, though, and not quite sure who they should be obeying. They stood protectively in front of the English scientist and a dark-haired woman who looked as if she were itching to leap into the middle of the whole mess. Doctor Beckett- oh, what fun Jack could have with _that _name!- was continuing to treat Sheppard, oblivious to several poisonous glances leveled at him by the sergeant. Paranoia was one thing, but this display of pigheadedness, especially when the guy recognized McKay and knew Jack was a superior officer, bordered on ridiculous.

"With all due respect, sir, I will shoot if you don't tell me who you are and what you're doing here!"

O-kay, make that _beyond_ ridiculous since that's exactly what McKay had been doing. Another minute and Jack was going to signal Teal'c, who'd swiftly disappeared behind some equipment with Ronon when these people started showing up, to zat the idiot. Then recognition clicked in and the colonel bit back a groan. He _did_ know this trigger-happy moron!

"Bates, the new guy on SG-8, Sumner's team. You know who I am, right?"

"Yes, sir, Colonel O'Neill, I know who you _look_ like at the moment. I'm not sure of who you actually _are_."

Enough was enough. This officious pain-in-the-butt _deserved_ the splitting headache he was about to be left with!

"Teal'c!"

Simultaneous red and blue shots took out Bates and his companion, leaving the one identified as Markham, who immediately held up his hands.

"I'd prefer not getting zatted, please, Colonel O'Neill."

At Jack's nod, Markham lowered his hands and knelt to check on his fallen comrades, gun on the floor near him. Good enough, since several of his team had weapons still covering the man. Not that Jack would actually shoot the kid unless he turned into some nasty alien cr- Nope, better not to go there.

"Just stunned?"

The brunette stepped forward just slightly, Grodin right behind. McKay surged toward her at the question, almost bristling in agitation.

"Of course, Elizabeth. Last I checked, neither SG-1 nor Ronon go around killing our own people just because they're two-legged versions of some outdated grunt's handbook! What the-"

The lights suddenly flickered around them and went out, leaving only the sunlight to illuminate the area as the gate activated. Turning, McKay sprinted up the steps toward the control area where Carter was already scanning equipment. Before Jack could shout a question, though, a teeth-clenched cry of absolute pain brought his attention around to Sheppard. The man was writhing on the floor, face pure white and pinched. Beckett glanced up to meet the SG-1 colonel's gaze in alarm.

"Bloody-! Somethin' just sent his vitals plummitin'!"

"Colonel!" Jack spun to glance up at the balcony in response to Carter's call, mind already racing through options. "No power to any systems up here! We can't dial out or close the iris!"

"Daniel! You and Jonas help the doc with Sheppard! I gather nobody's expecting company?"

The horror on the faces of those around him as they regarded the gate dialing rapidly made it into a rhetorical question. Trapped with a man down and unknowns coming in on an unfamiliar, damaged base. Not the day he'd been hoping for.

"Crap! Shoulda stayed in bed." Jack muttered in disgust, turning to a white-faced Rodney McKay. "You better know some good hiding places, 'cause I wasn't planning on sticking around to find out how friendly this bunch is!"  
First, get everyone to a safe place, especially Sheppard and the civilians, _then _go say 'hi' to the uninvited guests. Without a single question, the local team grabbed gear and carefully lifted their commander onto a portable stretcher, leading the way. The others hurried behind, though Jack noted absently that Ronon had stayed behind to take rear guard along with Teal'c, both walking backward to keep a line of sight on the gate, which was just finishing its dial in. Even as they worked their way swiftly down the hall, the SG-1 colonel couldn't help waiting for the shouts and spray of weapons' fire signaling discovery. Except it didn't come. Following the others down a stairwell, he breathed a sigh of relief, receiving a Teal'c eyebrow raise in response. Whoever they were, they were either non-military, very confident, or extremely stupid, since they obviously hadn't sent out scouts upon arrival. Good for Jack's bunch, but lousy tactics. Provided they weren't running from friendlies.

Several more hallways and one more staircase later, they stopped in front of a blank wall. Teal'c and Ronon helped the others ease the two unconscious men to the floor then took up guard positions behind them with only a glance to coordinate. It was truly scary how well those two meshed, Jack decided. Nearby, Teyla and Beckett gently lowered the stretcher bearing Colonel Sheppard, the woman moving to speak softly with her large team mate.

"Rodney...?"

The English scientist hissed quietly, beating Jack to the inquiry while sharing puzzled glances with the brunette the colonel had yet to catch the name of. McKay ignored his questioner, carefully running hands over the wall with a frown of intense concentration.

"Come on, come on..."

_Snick. _Part of the wall abruptly retracted to the side with only the faintest of sounds, revealing a small, round room. The astrophysicist stepped back with a slight smirk of satisfaction before turning to the others impatiently.

"Inside, hurry!"

The genius ordered them with a jerk of the head and flapping of hands. SG-1 looked to their own leader for direction, even Daniel and Mitchell, receiving a nod. Now was not the time to be having doubts about the leadership of the team most familiar with the base, even if the member giving directions _was _McKay. All of them scrambled to enter, the hidden door sliding shut as soundlessly as it had opened. Curious, the older colonel looked around.

The room was fairly small, especially with sixteen people in it, three laying down, but it appeared adequate for their purposes. Against one gently curving wall stood three consoles of the same metal and crystal style he'd noted back in the planetary ruins as well as the gate room of this facility. Hastily, he took a step away from them, not particularly in the mood to find out what they might do if he touched the damned things. McKay, however, was rapidly poking and prodding them, Carter looking over his shoulder in interest, but they didn't respond. Hey, at least they had-

"We're about to lose the lights. They're on a small emergency power source that's almost drained. If someone has a flashlight larger than the ones on the P-90s, I suggest you dig it out quickly. You'll have already noted this room doesn't have any windows."

The dry, condescending, sarcastic tone McKay used instantly torqued Jack's temper up another notch. Beside him, he could sense Mitchell also tensing in anger and shot the younger colonel a quelling look, unwilling to play referee before he got some answers.

"Mind explaining where the hell we are, McKay? I've never seen anything remotely like this base!"

Even as Carter voiced her commanding officer's own confusion, the lights _did_ go out, several people clicking on larger flashlights to compensate. The effect was a tad eerie, reminding Jack strongly of Halloween night ghost stories back home, but at least they could see each other.

"This city was under siege by the Wraith once. Sheppard and I decided this must have been a shelter for the civilians who were still here. Its sound proof, shielded against the city's life signs detector, and only accessible to someone with a strong ATA gene. Of course, we originally found it because Colonel Calamity over there activated the door just walking past."

"Nice." Jack muttered.

"Indeed."

Teal'c murmured from just outside the main rings of light, standing silent guard over the still unconscious Bates and his trigger-happy cohort. Yet another problem that needed to be dealt with.

"I'm really starting to hate this universe. Too bad it seems perfectly willing to hate us right back."

Jack was unaware that he'd spoken aloud until several of the group laughed softly.

"Unfortunately, I think you'll find that to be all too accurate a statement around here, sir. Shep's got this thing about _attracting_ trouble."

Mitchell regarded his ill friend with amusement before cocking an eyebrow at Jack, while Daniel, on Jack's other side, simply snorted.

"Oh, and you think _Jack _doesn't call problems to him on a regular basis? This isn't the first time we've managed to find ourselves in an alternate universe!"

"That's just it, Daniel, I don't think we _have _moved universes."

"You wanna explain that one, Carter?" Mitchell drawled, momentarily surprising the major with his familiar tone.

"Uh- Well, the readings that McKay and I took don't show any evidence of quantum shifting, just temporal flux. And that's only for us, not for the others. I was going to check them again, but-"

"Carter!" Jack cut her off in exasperation. "Pounding headache. Can we save all the damn scientific gobble-de-gook I don't understand for another time? Please?!"

An amused grin from the blond astrophysicist, but Sam wasn't the one who answered him.

"She's saying that there's no evidence to suggest anyone changed universes, just moved through time, sir. You're just in the future."

Jonas swung a flashlight around to illuminate Colonel Sheppard being helped to lean back against the wall by Beckett. He was still pretty pale, but no longer looked to be in pain and his voice was steady. The black haired colonel gave the older man a sheepish half-grin.

"Sorry. Guess I've been around McKay too long."

His team mate rolled his eyes. "Tell us another one, Mr. MENSA. You just like showing off right when I'm finally convinced you really _are _just another ignorant fly boy! I can compare readings with Carter, but I already know they're going to be the same. Which is problematic on way more levels then I care to contemplate at the moment."

"How about we start with who you all are?"

O'Neill had been waiting for the brunette to enter the discussion, having been watching her agitation grow for several minutes. She struck him as a lady who naturally took charge, not one who favored being as silent and on the periphery as she had been until now. Interesting. He plastered on the smile that so many off world leaders would recognize. The one that said, 'I'll play nice and go along with you for the moment, but don't push it.'

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, SG-1. We have Teal'c and Ronon guarding our overzealous military. The petite lady is Teyla, then Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard against the wall, Jonas Quinn, McKay, who you know, and Major Samantha Carter. With me are Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Dr. Daniel Jackson. Those of us not from here are from the past. Don't ask me how, I just touched some crystal pedestal doohickey, that's all."

"With you and Sheppard, and sometimes Carson, that's all it takes." McKay gave a disgruntled mutter, throwing annoyed glares at each person he mentioned. "My gene isn't as strong, as well as being artificial thanks to Carson."

"And what the bloody hell are you blatherin' about, Rodney? We don't have any way to artificially give anyone the ATA gene! The strongest we've ever found is _me_, bloody lot of good that it did us!"

"That...shouldn't be possible." Daniel frowned, stepping fully into the light and turning so he could address all the participants of the latest discussion. He pointed firmly at the Scottish physician. "You're saying you don't have any idea what Dr. McKay is talking about or who Colonel Sheppard is, correct?"

Beckett nodded. "Aye, that's right, son. Rodney's supposed to be _dead!_ I sat with him while he died of radiation poisoning, so did Elizabeth!"

The entire past SG-1 plus Daniel blanched at _that._ It was amazing how one simple word could bring back so much pain, so many horrendous memories, even with the friend they sat death watch over standing right there, apparently as healthy as ever. It was the only grief Jack had ever encountered that could rival that of losing a member of his family. Though, in his way, Daniel _was _family. Head bowed, his mind filled with memories of gauze wrapping his fast-weakening friend, he stopped listening to the quiet explanations with more than a fraction of his attention.

John tried hard not to flinch at that statement and the quiet sadness that came with it. Carson had so much empathy it occasionally seemed as if he could read the minds of his patients, but sometimes it was as much a hindrance as a help. To sit there and watch a good friend die, knowing there was nothing you could do... The Atlantis CO noted the pale faces and sudden distraction of the SG-1 team, then closed his eyes with a soft moan as he remembered they'd had to do exactly that with Dr. Jackson. Only they'd been lucky enough to get him back again, a fact that John's mind couldn't quite get a handle on since death had always felt so final to him. A helicopter exploded, an artery was severed, a Wraith ripped away a life, and they were gone, end of story.

"Are you still in pain, son?"

John reopened his eyes to find Carson staring at him in renewed concern.

"No, I'm fine, doc, just... Bad thoughts. Just how did Rodney wind up with radiation poisoning, anyway?"

"Uh...not to interrupt or anything, here, but shouldn't we be finding out who our party crashers out there are? Gen- Colonel O'Neill? John?"

Trust Cameron to already be bouncing around, anxious to do something, _anything_, as long as it didn't involve sitting around waiting. John gave a short bark of laughter, shaking his head, an action he abruptly stopped when it aggravated his headache.

"Let's see... No. Cam, we have no idea whose out there or where they are. Let 'em get settled in, think they're alone for a while before we go stir up trouble. Besides, we need some answers to decide what to do next. Now, doc. McKay?"

His friend wasn't too pleased, but he was just too tired and sore to care. Not to mention worried about the answer he was about to get. Finding Sumner's dog tags had rattled him badly enough, but to sit here and be told nobody knew him and one of his team was supposed to be dead... No wonder O'Neill was in an instant bad mood any time someone mentioned the consequences of time travel! Finding a 10,000 year old Elizabeth had been plenty bad enough for him without this little fiasco. Not to mention his personal frustration and confusion at blacking out again and again, only to wake in new locations. This was getting to be a rather nasty habit without even adding the painful end of it. Steeling himself against what he might hear, he met Elizabeth's gaze, her eyes showing no hint of recognition.

"About halfway through our first year here, there was a massive hurricane that threatened the existence of the city."

John nodded warily while Rodney rolled his eyes and Teyla grimaced slightly. Finally, something that hadn't changed! The Atlantis leader caught their reactions, one eyebrow shooting up.

"I see you're familiar with it. We evacuated most of the personnel so Rodney could use the lightning from the storm to power the shields. Unfortunately, we were tricked into lowering the shield and invaded by an unknown people who seemed to know us all too well. They took half of all the supplies we had left as well as Rodney. We searched for months, but Sumner couldn't find out anything. Then, about seven months ago, one of our teams vanished and the Wraith mysteriously stepped up their culling well before the natives told us they should. Rodney reappeared about two weeks later, found by some trading partners the Athosians introduced us to, ill and dying."

John felt his lips twist in a cynical smile. "Let me guess, the leader of the invading force was a bastard named Kolya and your ever-so-helpful trading partners are a farm people called the Genii!"

The brunette's shock was the only reply he needed to know he'd scored a touchdown. All of this was beginning to make a cruel sense. John obviously hadn't been with the expedition, so the deception of the Genii was never discovered, and... His mind shied away from completing that thought, so many woulda, shoulda, couldas.

"I never woke the Wraith here, never had to shoot Sumner..."

His soft mutter was thankfully overrun by his much louder, more excitable team mate.

"Those lousy, primitive idiots used me to complete their atomic bomb! How could they do that?! Next time I see Kolya, I'll... I'll... have Ronon shoot him! Damn Genii and their badly hidden underground bunkers! They killed me!! They cut short-"

"It doesn't matter!" Daniel cut the Canadian off. "What does is Sam said they only came forward in time, but we're seeing drastic differences in the time line!"

That seemed to snap Colonel O'Neill out of whatever musings he'd been lost in.

"Well, duh! We're here when we shouldn't be, Daniel."

"No, Jack, that doesn't explain it. Remember when we went back to 1969? Everything we did had already happened according to General Hammond's memory! _Nothing changed!_ This, though- the time line has been messed with somehow!"

Yep, a hyped up Jackson could _definitely_ give McKay a run for his money in fast talk! Too bad it fit with what John knew of time travel paradoxes, as demonstrated by his own encounter with the older Weir telling them a history that had never happened.

"Daniel's right, this shouldn't be possible." Sam Carter finally spoke up, puzzled. "There has to be an outside influence on the time line for something like this to occur!""Colonel, didn't you mention seeing someone just before the device activated, bringing us here?"

Jonas' question had his team leader frowning in concentration, recalling those split seconds before all hell broke loose.

"Yeah... A man with a staff, kinda gold and white. Something with his eyes, too..."

Gold and white-?

"Oh shit!"

John wasn't sure who'd said that, but he definitely agreed. Descriptions of the Ori's Priors had been circulated even on Atlantis just in case any showed up in the Pegasus Galaxy. Nobody knew if the anti-Ancients, as Cam had referred to them the other day, had any clue about the original existence of Atlantis, let alone that it was there once again.

"Well, that explains a few things." A much calmer, thoughtful Rodney, though Grodin, Elizabeth, and Carson were all still regarding him, a little spooked. "If someone from our time goes back, they could change everything. Some sort of Ancient technology in the ruins Sheppard activated must have protected us from the shift. Elizabeth, as far as you know, what happened to Colonel O'Neill and SG-1?"

"They vanished on a mission just after Abydos was destroyed, never heard from again."

Not good.

Tbc...


	10. Unwelcome Answers

Fate's Fickle Humor

A/N: I know this has been a long time coming and I apologize, I just couldn't seem to get this chapter to cooperate. I'm still not completely happy with it, but here it is anyway. Please review!

Chapter 10: Unwelcome Answers

John swallowed hard against the lump that suddenly took up residence in his throat, history's pattern as clear in his mind as any math equation.

"No Colonel O'Neill meant no General O'Neill to grant me spur of the moment clearance. That's why everything is different here!"

In some strange backhanded way, the realization eased his conscience a bit. Without him, Atlantis and the Pegasus Galaxy appeared to be at least as screwed as _with _him! The Wraith were even awake... and they had lost Atlantis.

"Sheppard!"

Rodney's sharp rebuke made him aware that he'd been speaking out loud some things that certain people probably shouldn't have heard. The scientist rolled his eyes at his friend.

"If you're done with the 'Wonderful Life' moment, I'd like to know what happened to the city! I thought the plan had always been to take the control crystal with us and destroy the place, not leave it!"

Elizabeth flushed, head darting nervously around to look anywhere but at them. The move was so uncharacteristic for the normally unflappable leader that John found himself staring at her in horror. This was just- _wrong._

"Disconcerting, isn't it? If you're wondering if history would be better off without you, I think you just got a pretty clear answer."

John flinched a bit at the soft voice in his ear, turning to find that Daniel had settled against the wall next to him. The archaeologist gave him a slight smile, daring him to contradict the statement with a cock of the head. What was really disconcerting was how well the man read him though they'd barely met before, though the colonel didn't say that to him.

"Yeah." Mouth suddenly dry, he swallowed hard. "I know that, Dr. Jackson. What _did _happen here, anyway?"

The last he addressed to the city's leader, who finally sighed and settled to the floor with the cautious movements of someone accustomed to pain every time they moved.

"The Wraith is what happened. Without a ZPM or any effective defenses, we really couldn't put up much of a fight, especially since they have ships. We found some here that the Ancients must have used, but we didn't have anyone who could really get them to fly. As for Earth, as far as we can tell, there isn't anything to go back _to, _that's why the crystal was destroyed. Just before the Wraith came, we had our only contact with Earth since coming here- a short message. 'Earth is lost. The Ori-' The wormhole cut out, but we decided the message was clear enough."

_BAM!_

The sharp sound of flesh impacting metal had them all jumping, straining their eyes toward the source through the darkness. A flashlight clicked on to illuminate Cam, standing near the far wall, carefully shaking the hand he'd obviously just used to punch the solid barrier. O'Neill made a quiet noise of annoyance deep in his throat while John winced, understanding his friend's frustration.

"Breaking your hand won't help anything, you know."

Daniel's soft statement earned a snort of disgust and dirty look from Mitchell.

"Yeah, thanks for that news flash, Jackson. The bastards couldn't get past us in the present, so they changed the past. How the hell can we possibly fix _this_? Can't play the game if they keep screwin' with the rules! Even if we manage to send SG-1 back to the right time, what's to stop the Ori from just having the Priors kill them?"

"The same thing that forced them to use such an elaborate trap to get SG-1 in the first place- the Ancients."

Daniel shrugged, a smile playing on his face. Clearly, he knew more than he was telling them, and John doubted his team mates, past and present, had missed that little fact. Everyone, however, was staring at him in various stages of confusion and annoyance. Finally, Carter broke the silence.

"Daniel, you said it yourself on Abydos. The Ascended aren't allowed to interfere!"

"That only applies if they're actually _caught_ at it, Sam." Now the archaeologist was openly grinning. "Do it quietly enough, like, say, just talk to someone, or fiddle with a machine so it works instead of exploding..."

Stunned silence, then-

**"Daniel!"**

Several voices overlapped in varying degrees of anger and exasperation. John just leaned back against the wall with a groan, realizing that the man had basically admitted to setting the whole thing up. This wouldn't be going over well with McKay, he was certain of that.

"You- you- Ancient Egyptian! I should have known! That damn tablet was _planted_! How could you do that to me?!"

The colonel's head began throbbing in time to the regular high pitches in Rodney's rant, not that the officer was inclined to stop him. Why hadn't Daniel just come to Elizabeth and him, told them the problem? Why the phony tablet and fake mission? Daniel was raising his hands as if to ward off physical blows as multiple voices and arguments overlapped, but no one was really paying much attention.

"Enough!" O'Neill's sharp bark overrode everyone, quiet once again descending on the small space. "They could probably hear the lot of you in the Gate room, sound proof walls or not. Now, let the man tell us what's going on."

That was as much an order to Daniel as to the others. The archaeologist, however, just shrugged off his friend's glare.

"It wasn't intentional. Well, at least not now it wasn't. I- uh. I didn't think I had much of a choice at the time since they were planning on the explosion killing all of you, then kinda didn't remember until now. Sorry."

Well, at least he _looked_ contrite! Plus he'd saved SG-1's lives so they had a chance to reverse this, so none of them could really say much.

"Fine. Whatever. Don't do it again." O'Neill flapped a hand in the direction of the younger man, dismissing the apology, though the glare quite clearly told everyone Jack would have some choice words for his friend later. "Let's talk about recon on our guests, shall we? Colonel Sheppard?"

Sheppard straightened, accepting the colonel's redirect with a wry grin.

"Right. Ronon, Teyla, I'd like you to take Colonel Mitchell and Colonel O'Neill, do a little recon to see how hard its going to be to get to the gate. Don't engage them unless there's absolutely no choice, since right now we have the element of surprise and I'd prefer to keep it."

John looked pointedly at Ronon when he said that, having already noted the large man's tendency to go straight through any obstacle unless specifically ordered not to. So far, the man had become an indispensable addition to his team, but Ronon's habit of shoot first, last, and often needed to be checked. The Satedan scowled, but gave a reluctant nod, acknowledging the order. The Atlantis colonel wasn't happy about sending O'Neill in his place, but with these unpredictable waves of pain he'd been suffering, there really wasn't a choice. Mitchell, however, looked less than pleased with his colleague's orders.

"Why O'Neill? I thought we were trying to limit the amount of the base SG-1 saw?"

Rodney immediately rolled his eyes at the other colonel, answering in a 'idiot' tone before John could.

"The ATA gene's a bit necessary for you to be able to get back in here, remember? I don't do all that soldier stuff, neither does Carson, and having Sheppard fall on his face again the minute he gets around working Ancient technology would work _real _well, so O'Neill's the only option left. Unless you've miraculously gained the gene? No? Didn't think so."

A shock running through him, John met Carson's eyes, realizing that Rodney was right.

"Every time I'm around Ancient technology... It was the gate activating that caused the last one! Some side effect of the machine malfunctioning when SG-1 came?"

The doctor shook his head, though he looked thoughtful.

"I can't be sure, son, but from what Ms. Emmagen told me, its possible. How are you feeling now?"

"Fine, just a bit sore and tired. Headache."

John shrugged, shooting Rodney a warning look before the scientist could begin making cracks about his team leader's loose interpretation of the word 'fine'. O'Neill caught the expression and snorted.

"Stay here and rest, colonel. I'm sure we'll be fine, and, hey, maybe they aren't even enemies out there. Come on, kids, let's go."

TBC...


	11. Nightmares

Fate's Fickle Humor

A/N: Okay, I got this together a bit faster than I thought, so here it is. Sage5: Yep, I completely forgot about Markham. I don't have an excuse, but John could plead ill and that Markham had been dead for five months in his own timeline. I haven't yet decided how to fix that in the last chapter, but I will. Thank you for the catch!! Thanks to all of you who review, you are deeply appreciated.

Chapter 11: Nightmares

Jack had been more than a bit impressed with Sheppard and his team, so he had no problem following their lead as they quietly left the safe room. Man, this place was huge! Talk about a heating bill! He really had to laugh at himself for that one- once a Minnesotan, always a Minnesotan! If this was Daniel's lost city, he could definitely see the benefit in finding it, though he'd be even happier if they located some cool weapons. A high tech cannon would be nice, but Ronon's handgun would satisfy him if nothing else.

The first several levels they moved through, however, were wrecked, as well as empty of both friend and foe. Ronon was in the lead, moving with a swiftness that belied his large size, once again reminding Jack strongly of Teal'c. Next came himself, then Mitchell, whom Jack still wasn't quite sure about. The kid obviously had a temper, but his cockiness reminded the older man of himself ten years ago. Bringing up the rear was the serene alien lady, Teyla. In her own way, she was like Teal'c as well in that nothing seemed to phase her. She was solid as a rock, taking everything with quiet grace that Jack almost envied.

They were almost back to the Gate room, from what the SG-1 leader could remember, before they encountered anyone. Mitchell, just behind Jack, caught sight of the intruder first, coming from down a side corridor with barely enough time for them to duck back around a corner. Unfortunately, it appeared that's where the woman was heading as they listened to the sharp click of her boots coming closer.

"Shit!"

The colonel whispered fiercely, knowing they were about to be spotted- and the door Ronon had just tried unsuccessfully slid open on its own as he stepped near. Quickly, the quartet slipped inside, door closing automatically behind them, leaving them tensely waiting for the shout of discovery. None came, they obviously hadn't been seen. This base was definitely proving to have its merits, instantly appearing escape routes always being a plus in Jack's book.

"Did you get a look at whoever it was?"

Jack whispered to Mitchell, hoping for some identifier, if not familiar to the two of them, then to their companions.

"Yeah, some chick dressed as an Imperial extra from Star Wars."

"What?"

Ronon stared at the younger colonel as if he'd grown a second head, obviously completely confused by the pop culture reference. Teyla, however, smiled sadly.

"I do not know which should alarm me more, that I understood your reference, Colonel Mitchell, or the identity of the intruders."

Jack felt like finding a wall to punch this time. Why couldn't nice, friendly people come invade the abandon base, just once?

"I gather these aren't friendlies?"

Teyla hesitated for a long moment, thinking over her reply.

"From Colonel Mitchell's description, I believe it most probably the Genii. They are an unpredictable people, deceptive, though not necessarily immediately hostile."

Genii. That name was already ringing a bell in Jack's head.

"These the same ones who supposedly took McKay?"

"Yes."

The answer was short and sharp, leaving the colonel to wonder just what history the lady had with these people.

"Okay, here's the plan. Let's get as close in to the Stargate as we can, see how many of these 'Gennys' we're dealing with if we can. Then we'll return to the others, decide where we go from there. Teyla, you and Ronon know the way, so lead on and stay sharp, people."

With barely a whisper of sound, they crept out, winding their way once again through the beautiful city. Whatever generator was running had obviously returned to its work, since the corridors were well lit. Unfortunately, that also made it painfully easy for any Genii soldiers to see _them_. Before Jack could say anything, Ronon headed them down a dark hallway.

Which promptly lit up, lights glowing a serene blue.

Instantly, Jack had the P-90 up, searching for the enemy, waiting to be fired upon. Instead, an empty hallway met his gaze, his three companions staring at him with varying levels of dismay.

"What the hell just happened?"

The older colonel whispered harshly, slowly lowering his weapon. Mitchell chuckled softly.

"Its your ATA gene, sir. Ancient technology automatically turns on around you, like the Ancient Repository."

"So you're saying I'm an automatic 'on' switch?"

"Afraid so, sir."

"Great. Nothing says 'here I am, come shoot me' like flashing lights. Is this going to be a continuing problem?"

Teyla shook her head.

"I do not believe so, Colonel O'Neill. Dr. McKay was confident that the Control Room would have full power and already be activated."

They moved on, obviously taking a round about way to their objective as main corridors gave way to stairs and more industrial looking areas. Jack had to remind himself not to jump every time lights came on or a panel began to glow when he walked past. Several times, he swore he heard what sounded suspiciously like a snicker coming from Mitchell. Was this what Sheppard lived with every day?

Finally, the two members of the local team led them to a corridor ending in the bright, sunlit Gatrium. Crouching down, Jack used military sign language, motioning Teyla and Mitchell to watch their six. Carefully, he and Ronon crept forward even as a voice rose angrily from inside their objective.

"What do you mean there's nothing here we can use? This power must be coming from somewhere, find it!"

Peering around the corner, the colonel found they were to one side and a bit lower than the Gate itself. In the center of the room stood the clearly fuming enemy leader, dressed in a gray button down uniform that _did _make him look like a _Star Wars_ extra. At his feet was a small pile of extra medical supplies and odd bits of technology, probably the supplies that Dr. Weir's people had been salvaging. Two enemy soldiers Jack immediately labeled 'stormtroopers' stood to either side of the Gate, while others moved in and out. Since there had been few in the halls, that meant a small raiding party, probably about ten was his guess. Good. This could be handled easily enough, especially since the SG-1 leader didn't see any heavy weaponry.

A tap on the shoulder brought his attention around to his large companion, who gestured back down the hall. Yes, better not to press their luck at the moment since lately it had all been bad. Stealthily, they made their way back to where the others waited in their hidey-hole somewhere in the bowels of the city. Jack put his hand to the door, sternly thinking 'open' as Sheppard had told him to, though feeling more than a bit foolish as he did so. Really, a wall that responded to someone's thoughts, what was with that?

Inside, everyone had tensed, only breathing a sigh of relief when the light from the hallway revealed the small scouting party. As the door slid shut, flashlights clicked back on, one illuminating the two zip-tied soldiers, now awake and gagged. Jack half wished he'd been around to hear whatever asinine thing Bates had said to warrant _that._ Not to mention getting to lend a hand in silencing the man. The other kid, Markham, was seated to one side, having been so quiet Jack forgot he was there.

"Well?"

The question came from Sheppard, who seemed much more alert then previously and definitely _looked _better, though that probably wouldn't last once they returned to the vicinity of the Gate. That was a problem the older colonel didn't have a clue how to deal with since they couldn't leave the man here.

"At a guess, about ten, lightly armed, so we shouldn't have much of a problem. Teyla called them 'Gennys' or something."

O'Neill waved at the petite woman to add her report, though Sheppard and McKay had already tensed.

"_Genii?!_ Kolya's here?"

McKay's voice hit an indignant, yet at the same time frightened, squawk, face draining of color. Yep, definitely some ugly history there.

"We don't know its Kolya, Rodney, let's not go into full panic mode yet."

Sheppard half-chided, half-soothed his team mate. Behind the astrophysicist, Carter grimaced, rolling her eyes at the dramatics and Jack bit back a smile. No doubt he'd lucked out in his scientists, even Jonas being better suited to military situations than McKay, even if the Canadian had finally learned which end of a gun was which. Besides, Carter was at least as intelligent as McKay, an Air Force officer, pretty, _and _had a sense of humor, what more could you ask for?

"I am afraid, Colonel Sheppard, that it _is _Commander Kolya."

Teyla's calm pronouncement hit like a ton of bricks, causing dismay among all the locals, particularly a barely calmed scientist.

"Can I panic and say we're screwed now, Sheppard?"

McKay threw the young colonel's earlier statement back at him in a biting tone that would have had Jack reaching for a weapon were it aimed at him, but Sheppard just gave the man an exasperated look.

"We've dealt with Kolya before, McKay, and for once we have the advantage. We know he's here, not the other way around. Where do you need to go to get the extra parts you need?" Silence. "Mc-Kay!"

"The Control Room."

"Why don't we just wait until the bloody bugger leaves?"

The medical doctor stopped Sheppard before he could continue, earning a pained grimace in response.

"I'd love to, Carson, but they might be advanced scouts for a larger group, especially since they think At- the city is deserted. Besides, the sooner we get SG-1 back to when and where they belong, the happier I'll be. Any more questions?"

Silence, no one daring the young colonel's clearly rising temper.

"Good. Now, here's the plan..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack approached the Control Room cautiously, holding what Sheppard had called an 'LSD' in one hand, P-90 with the other. The younger man had been pretty embarrassed after Jack and his scout team returned when he realized they had three of the things and no one thought to send one with the SG-1 colonel. Next to him, Carter shifted uneasily, peering over his shoulder at the small Ancient device.

"They haven't moved?"

"Near as I can tell, no."

And that fact did not make him a happy colonel. They had split into smaller groups just minutes ago, intending to surround and enter the Gate room from multiple directions, hoping to take the twelve Genii the LSD said there by surprise. Except every military instinct Jack possessed screamed a warning. Something was very wrong here, he just wasn't quite sure what. The SG-1 colonel clicked his radio once and received a double click back, indicating he was clear to transmit.

"Sheppard, if I'm reading this toy of yours right, nobody's moving."

"Yeah, I got that, too. Pretty sure they know we're here."

Jack grimaced, not at all happy to have his guess confirmed. Not to mention the pain he could hear the younger man trying desperately to keep from his voice. The moment their group had left the shielded room, Sheppard had gone white, fighting to stay on his feet. The man approached Teal'c in his stubborn refusal to give in to pain, insisting on being a part of this anyway, though Jack had basically ordered him to stay out of the fighting and help coordinate.

"Do they have anything like these "Elsie" things to tell them where we are?"

"No. Grodin told me all the sensors were knocked out during the last battle with the Wraith."

McKay joined the conversation, sounding more than a bit impatient. Ever since the revelation of who their uninvited guests were, the man had been jumpy, rubbing his right arm as if it ached. Jack was fast getting the idea that this guy was the other team's version of Apophis, the arrogant enemy who simply refused to die.

"Good. What say we take out any of them that we can get at as quietly as possible?"

A soft chuckle from Sheppard.

"That sounds like a very good idea, colonel. Ronon, Teal'c, Teyla, see what you can do. Jonas, Rodney, Daniel, Cam, stay out of sight. What about you and Carter?"

Jack turned with a raised eyebrow at his companion, who nodded.

"We'll take the ones immediately around us."

"Good."

John reached to click off his radio, then hissed at the pain that washed through him again. This was getting more than a bit aggravating. When he'd tried to handle the life signs detector earlier, he'd almost hit the floor, so now he had to settle for looking over Carson's shoulder and ignoring the stabs and dizzy spells as best he could. Much to his chagrin, the colonel was stationed with the noncombatants in the hall just down from the Gatrium, reduced to listening to his people engage the enemy over the radio. It wasn't that he didn't trust the military members of SG-1 and his own team to take out the Genii, he just didn't take well to weakness in himself.

It didn't help matters that two of the noncombatants really shouldn't have been there at all, but that was the first argument he'd lost today. Grodin and Markham had been left in the shielded room with Bates and Petrov, ordered to stay there until they knew they were clear, then return to Athos, where the rest of Atlantis' survivors waited. While it would have been nice to have three more members of the military with them, neither Jack nor John were willing to trust Bates not to pull some stupid stunt. The man had heightened paranoia to an art form, accusing John's team of all being aliens sent to take over earlier, which resulted in McKay force-feeding the man a gag. John was brought abruptly out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder, which had him instinctively moving to hit back at the other person. Fortunately, his mind kicked in, informing him that it was Elizabeth's face swimming out of focus before his eyes, in time for him to pull the punch with a gasp.

"Damn it, Elizabeth, how many times have I warned you never to grab me like that?!"

Which received an icy glare in response.

"Never, colonel, since I'd never met you until today. Sorry. You're just going to kill these people without even trying to talk with them? Maybe they'll let us past without a fight."

Very rarely had John ever had that level of anger directed at him from Elizabeth, and never about a military situation, so her criticism took him aback momentarily. If this was the person two years of fighting a losing battle alone in the Pegasus Galaxy had made her into, he didn't like it one bit. Then, she'd had Sumner as her military commander, most likely constantly pushing, trying to undermine her.

"That isn't a good idea, Elizabeth, trust me. Kolya's not known for his ability to be reasonable."

"I realize that, colonel, I've met the man, but I can't just sit here and let you slaughter all of them."

Elizabeth stood, contempt and determination written clearly across her face as she headed down the corridor toward the Gatrium. John cursed, struggling to rise even as Carson caught his arm, guiding the colonel back to a seated position as the city spun wildly around him and legs turned to jello. One shaky hand went up to hit his com.

"Elizabeth just went in to try talking to Kolya. Whoever's closest, grab her!"

"Dr. Weir passed me a second ago, I'll get her."

Jonas Quinn, sounding more then a bit flustered. He was supposed to be strictly in an observational role right outside the Gatrium.

"Damn it, Jonas, stay where you are!" Jack O'Neill snapped at his team mate, then John heard him swear again.

"Too late, Jack, they're both already in the room and it looks like Kolya's actually willing to talk to them."

Daniel, high up on the command level, noted sourly.

"Great. Take out as many as you can, everybody, but nonlethal for now. If this guy decides to double cross us, Jonas and Weir are screwed."

Though O'Neill had technically given command to John, the Atlantis colonel wasn't about to argue with the other man at this point. He couldn't see what was going on, but the Genii weren't known for keeping their promises. Reaching out, he grabbed Carson's arm.

"Help me get closer in, doc. I have to be able to see what's going on in there."

For once, Carson didn't argue, instead tucking the detector into a pocket and putting a shoulder under the colonel, aiding the ill man to his feet. Slowly, they made their way down the hall, John concentrating on not toppling them both with his screwy balance. Knocking himself out on the floor of the city was not high on his priorities at the moment. Finally, they reached the corner where Jonas had been concealed before going after the diplomat and John mentally cursed the woman. She was currently standing in the middle of the room near the Gate, defiantly glaring at the pock-faced Genii commander. Straining, John could just make out the conversation.

"Dr. Weir, it's a pleasure to see you again. I'd been told that the Wraith killed everyone on Atlantis."

"Obviously you were misinformed. All we want is to leave through the Gate, then you're welcome to what you can find here, not that it will do the Genii any good since they can't activate any of it."

"So you know. Too bad. I don't think anyone will be leaving today, Dr. Weir."

John felt his blood run cold at the smug words and the slight twitch of the man's hand that went with it.

"NOOO!"

His scream came just a split second too late as the sharp crack of a weapon reached his ears and he saw Elizabeth Weir slip bonelessly to the floor, her head turned to stare sightlessly at the Atlantis military commander. Jonas Quinn, who had been standing behind her, froze in horror, which gave Kolya all the time he needed. Several bullets impacted where the Genii had stood seconds before as, quick as a snake, he grabbed the Kolownan, twirling him around into a choke hold, gun pressed to the younger man's head.

"Hold your fire!"

The shout over the com from O'Neill rang in John's ear and he snatched out the device, throwing it behind him as he pulled from the doctor's grasp. No amount of pain or weakness could compete with the energy from rage and grief, allowing him to stand firm, P-90 pointed straight at Kolya. His complete focus was on his enemy, his only thought that they had to get SG-1 back where they belonged and fix this, save Atlantis, save Elizabeth...

"Kolya! Drop your weapon and I'll let you live!"

The snarled offer was serious, but John was also certain it would never be accepted. That just wasn't Kolya. Even as he spoke, the Genii commander sneered and several bullets impacted around John, at least one finding its target as pain burned along his ribs. John didn't even flinch, simply absorbing the impact with a few steps backward, then returning to his former position, trusting that one of his team would shortly deal with the shooter if they had not done so already. If Kolya so much as twitched his hand as if he were going to fire, the Atlantis colonel had to be ready, because if Jonas Quinn died, so did any hope they had of restoring the past and fixing the present.

TBC...

A/N: Before anyone flames me for killing off a main character, remember this is an alternate time line and can presumably be fixed if they get SG-1 home.


	12. Desperate Measures

Fate's Fickle Humor

A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed! You guys have really been making my day. And for those who noted that I tend to pick on Minnesota and Minnesotans, well... That's because I am one. (By the way, the high temperature tomorrow is 2 below zero Fahrenheit!)

Chapter 12: Desperate Measures

Vertigo threatened to topple John to the floor once more, but he fought it off with a grim determination, eyes never wavering from his target. His side throbbed, warm blood trickling down his skin telling the young colonel in no uncertain terms how lucky he was the Genii was a poor shot. Not expecting to go into combat on this one, he'd given in to Carson's demands that he leave his vest off so the doctor could monitor him easier. As military, he should have known better, just as he should have anticipated Elizabeth pulling something like this. Except this wasn't _his _Elizabeth. So now they were stuck in a stand-off, an eerie repeat of history, Kolya and John each waiting, daring the other to be the first to blink.

"Kolya! Last time we played this game, it didn't turn out too well for you!"

The cold warning produced confusion in his enemy, just as John had hoped, beginning to divide the Genii commander's attention ever so slightly as he attempted to puzzle out John's taunts.

"You have me at a disadvantage. I don't recall us meeting before."

A thin, humorless smile crossed John's lips.

"I know. Same place, different time and person. This time my bullet won't be going through your shoulder, either."

Jonas Quinn, being held tight against the Genii, went even whiter at that, eyes wide in barely controlled panic. John just hoped the young linguist could hold it together just a little longer, just enough to- There it was. The faint flicker of doubt and alarm in his opponent's eyes, a momentary distraction from his captive, the gun wavering from its tight press against Jonas' head. The barest twitch of the Atlantis military commander's finger sent a bullet flying out of the P-90...

And Kolya, commander of the Genii, crumpled to the ground, a small red entry wound in the middle of his forehead between two sightless eyes. A classic 'third eye.'

Jonas, shaking and swallowing convulsively, but very much alive, shot John a look of wide-eyed gratitude even as he stumbled a few feet into the shadows to vomit. Slowly, the other members of their little group emerged from hiding places around the large room, each one nodding to indicate all the Genii in their areas were dealt with. No surprise there, he'd known that must be the case the moment the shooting stopped.

"Colonel? Let me see that side, son."

Carson Beckett was beside him, eyes shimmering with tears as he led John past the body of Elizabeth Weir, gently pushing him down to sit on the steps. Not that the Atlantis CO was inclined to argue since the adrenaline that had kept him upright was fast disappearing. Not far away, he could see Carter and Dr. Jackson supporting the still heaving Jonas Quinn.

"He's okay, just not used to finding himself in _quite_ that much trouble." Colonel O'Neill sat down on the steps by John as he spoke. "I've got McKay finding whatever part it was he needed. The move you made was pretty gutsy, not to mention suicidal is we hadn't taken out the other 'Gennys'."

"Genii." John corrected absently, leaning his head against the wall, grateful to feel the cool on his warm, sweaty skin. "I knew you guys would deal with them. If Kolya had killed Jonas..."

That sobered Jack and he leaned over to look around Sheppard at his team mate.

"Yeah, that might have been a problem. As soon as McKay and Carter are through, we should be ready to go. I'm sorry about Weir, kid."

"Well, the colonel won't be, not until I put some stitches in this mess on his side."

Carson's grief-roughened brogue was soft, concerned. At O'Neill's nod and John's rolled eyes, he grabbed his medical kit, fishing around for what he'd need. Cam and Ronon appeared from around the corner, looking satisfied until they saw the doctor's preparations.

"Uh oh. What'd you do now, Shep?"

John grimaced at Cam's use of the old nickname.

"I got grazed in the side, I'm fine. And don't call me that."

"You're not fine, son, you're bleeding, ill, and this bloody place is just making it worse. Now lie down so I can look at that properly. If I thought I'd have the slightest chance o' winning the argument, I'd insist you came back to my hospital tent on Athos."

John instantly shook his head.

"No time, Carson. The sooner we fix this mess, the happier I'll be."

He didn't, however, object when Cam and Carson helped him up and eased him to the floor, which had been covered with a blanket, his head pillowed once again on McKay's rather lumpy backpack. The power bar that had poked him in the back yesterday seemed to be gone, at least. A needle prick on the arm, and John found himself unable to resist the urge to sleep any longer.

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As soon as they cleared the gate on the Ancient outpost planet, John slumped down against a tree, squeezing his eyes shut against the agony rippling through him. At least he was no longer blacking out due to some of Carson's lighter painkillers, though that was a small blessing. Ronon and Teal'c, who had come through ahead of him, were no doubt already scouting the vicinity, but so far, so good. Then, Wraith rarely stuck around a planet when they knew there was no longer food available, so they must have been attracted in the first place by the activating of the Ancient technology. Soon, he heard that odd _bloop-bloop _of someone else coming through the event horizon and called out without looking, already knowing who it would be.

"Teyla?"

A person moved to stand over him, blocking the light breeze.

"I do not sense any Wraith, colonel. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good."

He smiled up at her, noting her frown of disbelief, and masked the pain as he carefully stood up to face a scowling Carson walking toward him from the Gate. Seemed time and changed history couldn't change the man's hatred of Gate travel.

"This is as far as you go, doc. McKay and Carter both think everything outside the complex will be changed back to the original time line if we're successful, but anyone in the ruins will be shielded. We don't want you caught with us and screw it up all over again."

Carson's face turned stony, telling John he was in for another battle of wills with the stubborn Scot, but he planned on winning this one.

"You're hurt, son. I need ta keep an eye on you."

"We'll keep an eye on him, doc."

The Atlantis colonel almost laughed as the physician jumped, swearing softly in Gaelic as the Satedan spoke from just behind him. The man could be damn stealthy when he wanted to be, but then, he'd had seven years of practice when his very life depended on it. Need was a fine teacher. Teyla shot her newest team mate a reproving look and laid a reassuring hand on the Scot's arm.

"Ronon is correct, we will watch John. We will not be far should we need you, Dr. Beckett."

The doctor considered for a long moment as John held his breath, not sure how the other man would take it if he were forced to pull rank. Finally, Carson nodded, nailing his patient with a stern glare.

"Aye, see that you do, love. And you, colonel, take it slow and easy. I know your type!"

"Good enough." A voice from near the wormhole had them all turning to see SG-1's original leader listening to a report from his Jaffa team mate. Seeing their attention on him, the man grinned wickedly as he called out to them. "We should get moving before your dinner guests decide to crash the party again."

Carson's brows knit in puzzlement and he stared at the older colonel as if questioning the man's sanity, while John laughed softly and Teyla's mouth quirked up in a half smile. Ronon just scowled.

"Dinner guests? What bloody dinner guests?"

Behind O'Neill, McKay snorted in disgust, he, Cam, and Carter having come through the Gate just in time to hear the crack.

"Ha Ha. He means the Wraith, Carson. Are we going to stand around making bad jokes or are we going to fix this mess? I, for one, want my lab back, fumble-fingered assistants and all!"

Jack O'Neill looked pointedly at the Gate, which had the major smiling ruefully.

"Jonas and Daniel should be through in a minute, sir. Daniel had a... slight mishap."

Even as she spoke, the other two appeared, but John lost the thread of the conversation as the Gate disengaged, sending him back to his knees from the wave of dizziness it provoked. His head was pounding once again, an ugly counterpart to the throbbing of the bullet wound in his side, but he wasn't about to admit that to any of them. Somehow, he was certain that he would be needed soon, and couldn't do what was required if they pumped him full of more drugs. Cam appeared next to him, carefully helping him back to his feet, then pulling one of John's arms over his shoulder without asking. With a resigned grumble, Rodney took up the other side. As they slowly began walking, the colonel was alarmed to see Jonas offering similar help to a badly limping Daniel just ahead of them.

"What happened-"

His muttered question was cut off by Cam's reassuring laugh.

"Jackson's got two left feet is all. He tripped coming down the stairs in the Gate room and twisted that ankle again. Once we get to the room, I'll wrap it while Carter and McKay play with their Ancient toys."

The rest of the short walk passed in silence as John concentrated on repressing the pain shooting through him with every step.

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"McKay! Carter! Any time now! Preferably _before_ our long-haired friends decide to drop in again!"

O'Neill's impatient shouting brought John awake from a nap he'd never intended to take. Once they had reached the room with the pedestal, the two astrophysicists had become immersed in Ancient machinery, softly arguing back and forth about every move they made. Once, it had resulted in Carter accidentally hitting the wrong crystal when McKay jostled her in one of his arm-swinging rants. The subsequent yelp, however, also came from Rodney as the crystals connecting had created a minor feedback loop, giving the Canadian a minor jolt. Somewhere in all the wrangling, John had dropped off despite the steady pulse of the Ancient machinery keeping him in constant discomfort. If his condition really _was _caused by something like a burn to the part of the brain that controlled Ancient tech, as Carson suspected, than John had more then a debriefing Elizabeth would never believe to look forward to. Right now, though...

"What's the problem, Rodney?"

At his quiet question, the man it was addressed to popped his head around the pedestal with a scowl.

"I don't think my ATA gene is powerful enough to fully activate it. Every time I try, things flicker, but won't stabilize enough for me to tell it to reverse the transportation process. O'Neill can't because he has to be in the room where SG-1 first appeared or this might not work, or... You'll have to do it."

Well, that explained the scowl and the almost frightened look in his friend's eyes. If just being around the technology hurt that much, then...

"That could kill him, McKay!"

Cam's indignant shout made John start, though he caught Rodney's roll of the eyes in response.

"I am painfully aware of that, Colonel Mitchell, thank you. Why else do you think Sam and I would be wasting all this time trying to get around it? Because we thought it would be fun?!"

"That's enough, McKay. If I need to do this, then let's get going, because I can pretty much guarantee we're only going to get one shot at it."

John climbed wearily to his feet as he spoke, not that surprised with the outcome. This wouldn't be the first time that his gene had provided him with an answer to problems with Ancient technology when he wasn't even truly conscious of it.

"Are you sure? There must be another way."

O'Neill had a hand on his arm, steadying the younger colonel as he swayed, face already white.

"I'm pretty sure there isn't, sir. I'll be fine."

The other man gave him a skeptical 'you're lying through your teeth' look, but nodded anyway.

"Okay, kids, let's get to that other room so we can go home. I'm getting a little tired of this side of the rainbow. Colonels, its been a pleasure. Teyla, Ronon. Danny, you'd better have a damn good explanation for that mess on Abydos the next time I see you! McKay... Just try not to electrocute anyone."

With that, the legendary Colonel Jack O'Neill walked away, the other members of his team making fast goodbyes before joining him. John didn't miss the fact that all of them chided Daniel on his disappearing, reappearing acts, telling him they'd want details when they saw him again. The archaeologist, John noted, didn't tell them he'd have no memory when he returned to SG-1.

Carefully, slowly, he walked to the pedestal, which began to glow brighter even as he approached. To tell the truth, he was scared to death at the moment, but like taking the Jumper with the nuke to the Hive ship, he didn't see any other choice. SG-1 had to return to their own time, or they would lose Earth, Atlantis, and Elizabeth. That, to John, was completely unacceptable.

A beep over the com.

"We're set, whenever you're ready, colonel."

With a deep breath, John reached out and grabbed the glowing machinery with both hands, his awareness of his surroundings instantly fading, pain and the hum of the Ancient tech warring for his consciousness.

"No! Send them back to where and when they belong!"

His mutter coincided with forceful mental commands, fighting, pushing to make the thing do as he wished. Agony and an explosion of light rippled through him, his body falling into blackness.

Tbc...


	13. Time Tangles

Fate's Fickle Humor

Chapter 13: Time Tangles

_In his dreams, John Sheppard watched as history unfolded. Not as it was or as it had been, but as it was originally meant to be..._

_SG-1 walked slowly through the Stargate to a stunned General George Hammond, who had been certain this time they were truly lost, the aftermath of the explosion on the planet not leaving much hope..._

_Jack O'Neill leaned casually against the door frame to George Hammond's new Pentagon office, waiting to go to the ceremony to accept a promotion he'd never believed he'd be offered, let alone accept. At least not before a young officer called him General O'Neill..._

_The newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter wrote a recommendation that Dr. Rodney McKay be assigned to the Antarctica Expedition, certain that fate wouldn't mind a helping hand..._

_General O'Neill quietly called in a favor with the commander of McMurdo to ensure that one disgraced major was his pilot to the Ancient Outpost. A young man whose career he'd carefully begun watching over a year earlier..._

_That same general waved the young officer onto an elevator going deep under the ice, casually assuring him that he now had clearance though it would cause problems with some of the brass, knowing the consequences if he didn't..._

_General Landry abruptly backed the promotion of John Sheppard and his continued assignment as military commander of Atlantis after a phone call from an old friend and a quiet discussion with Colonel Carter, though much of the explanation left him with a headache..._

_And everything clicked neatly back into place, fate no longer the plaything of the Ori._

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A slow, steady beeping brought Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard slowly awake to the sunlit interior of an Athosian tent. Carefully, he tried to look around for anyone else, only to find that turning his head felt like forcing a rusty, long unused wheel to turn, muscles screaming in protest. Nope, nobody there, but lots of equipment around. In fact, the area near his bed was set up as a mini-infirmary, complete with a monitoring unit for his vitals, IV, and- oh goody- a catheter bag.

Could it all have been a dream, seeing time fix itself? Had they failed and were truly trapped now in this altered present, refugees with their homes gone, both here and in the Milky Way? His stomach twisted and he grimaced in heartfelt pain. That meant- Eyes burned with tears he refused to let fall as he remembered how watching a good friend and leader crumpled lifelessly to the floor, John just a little too slow to stop her death. Restless, he turned away, lost in the memories of a city he'd probably never see again...

"Colonel?"

The gentle question brought his eyes back open, realizing he must have dozed off for a few minutes. _That _newly acquired habit had gotten old and more than a bit irritating back when he was still recovering from the retrovirus. John wasn't all that surprised when he finally turned his head toward the voice to find Carson standing by his bed, carefully scanning monitors with a satisfied air.

"Hey, doc. Are we on Athos?"

With an internal cringe, the colonel decided it was better to bite the bullet and ask. Or at least try to. What emerged from his mouth bore no resemblance to a human voice, nor were the words coherent. The doctor, however, didn't appear the least bit surprised at the croak, just bolstered him up into a semi-recline with a few well-placed pillows, then handed John a small cup of water.

"Easy, son, just sip slowly on that for a minute, then we'll get to your questions. Your throat is going to be a wee bit sore for a while, I had to put you on a ventilator." As his patient's expression began to darken with alarm, Carson smiled reassuringly. "Not to worry, you're healin' just fine. I think you might want to duck when we return to Atlantis, though, Elizabeth's mighty upset with you for scarin' her like that again so soon. Said she'd rather you didn't go trying to beat General O'Neill's infirmary record!"

John promptly choked on the water as the full implications of Carson's statements hit home, accidentally inhaling some of the liquid only to spray it back out with several forceful, and painful, coughs. Right into the face of a startled Rodney, who had just bustled into the tent. The genius recoiled hard, almost tripping, then moved back to John's side when the coughing stopped, accepting a towel from a laughing Carson.

"I warned ya not to come in without checking, Rodney!"

McKay rolled his eyes at the Scot, grimacing.

"Yes, very attractive, thank you, colonel. Your voodoo's supposed to be fixing him, Carson, not drowning him!"

The Scot just shook his head in answer, lips still twitching as he tried to suppress more laughter at their annoyed friend. John would have been chuckling, too, if he weren't having to try to catch his breath, which immediately brought the attention of the doctor back to him. Gently, he held a pillow to John's side, helping the colonel support the area where he'd been shot, which didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have for only having been injured a few days ago at most. However, his relief at the doctor's words was all he was focused on at the moment. _Elizabeth_ was alive to be annoyed with him, waiting on _Atlantis_, and O'Neill was a general. So far, so good. Why, then, was he in a tent?

"D-doc?" He stuttered a bit, still coughing occasionally, but his voice worked properly this time, even if his throat did burn and throb pretty fiercely. "Sorry about that. But where are we?"

Beckett sobered, patting his arm gently.

"I'm the one who should apologize, colonel, I should have realized what you'd assume waking up here after all you've been through. We're on the Mainland, at the Athosian settlement, because with your injuries, staying on Atlantis would have been fatal." John collapsed back against the pillows, head spinning from both the exertion and the partial explanation, pulling in deep breaths to slow his speeding heart. "That's it, son, everything's fine, just relax. I wasn't bloody well thinkin'."

The colonel nodded in response, not trusting himself to speak more than a few short words at the moment. The last thing he wanted was to trigger the coughing spasms again. Fine, he'd relax, but one of the two with him had better start explaining what the hell had happened in a logical, complete manner, or he was going to find Ronon and have him knock some heads together. Fortunately for his throat, a pointed glare could communicate a lot as the other two began tripping over each other in their attempts to provide answers.

"You passed out on the planet after activating that bloody machine..."

"After you sent SG-1 back and promptly fainted..."

Voices running on top of one another kicked John's throbbing head back to life and he closed his eyes for a long moment before pinning both Carson and Rodney with a glare.

"One at a time!"

It was half command, half plea, combined with a touch of coughing, which had the physician helping him with another cup of water. A soft laugh from the doorway made him peer around Carson to see the rest of his team, plus Cameron and Daniel, the latter two apparently extremely amused.

"I think we'd better answer him before John decides to open another can of whoop-ass on us, don't ya think?"

Cam's cocky, amused question received another glare, not that it would do any good with his old friend. After all, it wasn't like he was even a superior officer! The other colonel _did_, however, seem to be good judge of when he'd pushed John too far, actually volunteering an explanation.

"SG-1 got home safely and everything is back to normal as far as we can tell. Dr. Weir opened the gate to Earth and we checked in with Landry, but so far we seemed to have pulled off another one. When whatever that machine was stopped its glowing, we found Major Lorne and company looking for us. Good thing, too, since you decided to stop breathing right about then."

Beckett grimaced, but took up the explanation from Cameron with only a mildly reproving look at the SG-1 colonel.

"We couldn't find you, so Elizabeth got worried and sent me along with the major's team. We were actually just about to leave when everyone with the ATA gene was briefly dizzy, then there the lot of you were. Ronon and the major almost shot one another in surprise, by the way. Lads almost gave me a heart attack." A sour look at Ronon, who just shrugged, not looking the least bit repentant. "Apparently, son, that bloody machine gave you the equivalent of a right nasty burn through the neural pathways that control Ancient technology when the power surged the first time you touched it. Its made you sensitive to anything Ancient, so we had _Daedalus_ transport you here to heal. That was a week ago, colonel."

"Which, I might add, is another interesting point." Rodney barely waited for Carson to finish his sentence, muscling the Scot aside both verbally and physically to take center stage in front of John. "_We _remember the _Daedalus _as already having left right before we went to the planet, but when we returned, Caldwell was still there. Seems he received special orders from General O'Neill to stick around for about a week after dropping off supplies, probably because he remembered us saying it could kill you. Interesting thing, time. Too bad we never had a chance to ask about some of the other effects of SG-1 being gone. For instance, I'd love to know how they defeated Anubis and found Atlantis, but then, I was around, wasn't I? Undoubtedly, with my superior intellect, I replaced Samantha Carter..."

"Rodney!"

"Not again, McKay!"

"Will you quite your blatherin'?"

"Wait 'til I tell Carter you think you can replace her."

Several people went after the suddenly arrogant scientist, and John settled back against his pillows, content that everything really would work out from this one.

It was almost another week before John was able to return to Atlantis, doing the honors himself with Lorne willingly stepping down to co-pilot for the trip home aboard Jumper 1. By the time they reached the city, the colonel was able to happily reassure Carson that he had just the barest hint of a headache from the Ancient technology, not that it stopped the doctor from immediately ordering his patient to the infirmary for an in-depth scan.

Pleased to be home, everyone in one piece, including an Elizabeth fighting a losing battle to at least _look _stern and professional, John didn't even complain about it. Which, of course, had Carson shooting him suspicious looks the entire time, but finally conceding that all the tests were showing the colonel almost completely recovered. It did, however, mean that the Atlantis military commander was able to look forward to another blissfully scientist-free week since he wasn't allowed to activate anything.

The part of his return that had all of Atlantis buzzing, however, was what happened _after _John left the infirmary. He'd been tired, his healing wounds still taking up a lot of the energy he'd just recovered before this whole mess started, so he'd acceded to Carson's orders to go to his room and rest. Only when he'd arrived at the door of the smallish room he'd taken after the returning to Atlantis as the actual assigned military commander, he'd gone in-

To find one of the female marines on the overnight shift just stepping out of her pre-bed shower. Naturally, she also slept in the buff.

Red faced and stuttering, a very embarrassed John had hastily backed out of the room, fleeing down the corridor. He'd hid out on a balcony nearby, trying to decide what the hell was going on and if he had finally gone around the bend. At least until an equally flustered Rodney appeared a few hours later, having gone to bring a meal to his recovering friend only to have the same problem that John did. Together, each reinforcing the fact that the other wasn't seeing things, they sheepishly went to find Carson Beckett, hoping to keep this from going around Atlantis. The doctor, after staring at them for a long moment, conceded that something must have shifted, causing an odd ripple in the time line. With a grin, he led John to what everyone else on Atlantis knew as his current quarters, two corridors over on the east side. Sure enough, there were all his things, including the Johnny Cash poster in its rightful position near the wall, his guitar in the corner with his newly arrived golf clubs, and the skateboard under the bed.

By the next morning, the full account of the incident, including Rodney's little wake-up call of a naked woman, was making the rounds of the city. It was good to be home.

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Gritting his teeth, Dr. Daniel Jackson took one last look around the Control Room of the Lost City he'd gone through so many adventures to find before stepping through the wormhole back to Earth. He and Cam had both known they'd be lucky to get the entire two months they'd been allotted in the Pegasus Galaxy before being recalled, but not quite three weeks sucked. The Ori, however, didn't seem too inclined to wait around before causing more trouble, so back they went. At least they'd been able to stay long enough to see Colonel Sheppard back on his feet. The man really did remind the archaeologist rather strongly of a certain former colonel and SG-1 leader.

What made Daniel truly uneasy about returning home, though, was the possibility of changes in the SGC. Oh, he knew restoring SG-1 had fixed most of the present, but knowledge of the future had caused ripples. It was simply inevitable, no matter how hard Jack and the others must have tried to keep it from happening. He'd seen it in the occasional odd face on Atlantis giving his friends pause, and in the slightly altered configuration of Rodney's lab. Not to mention that whole thing with Sheppard's quarters! If the effects had gone that far out from the four people who would have caused them, what must have happened at the SGC, where they were every day?

The moment Daniel saw the familiar gate room of the SGC, however, he stopped dead in his tracks, Cam almost walking straight into him. Clustered at the bottom of the ramp were four people, faces registering the gamut from irritation to amusement. Teal'c, Sam, and, in one of his rare visits back to Earth, Jonas Quinn, all stood to one side, eyes flickering between Daniel and the fourth greeter.

Major General Jack O'Neill, looking distinctly pissed.

"Uh oh. I'm dead."

Daniel's muttered comment received a snort of amusement from Mitchell.

"Glad I'm not in your shoes, Jackson. Come on, time to face the music."

Planting a firm hand in the middle of the archaeologist's back, Mitchell began pushing the reluctant man down the ramp toward his former team leader.

"Daniel!" O'Neill greeted him loudly in that falsely cheerful tone that had always warned the team that they had done something boneheadedly stupid. "Danny-boy! Space monkey! Just what the hell do you call that whole mess you just made?"

Coming to a halt in front of his friend, Daniel squirmed a bit, casting a hopeful look toward the other three. Who just stared back at him. Nope, no help there.

"Ahh... I don't know, Jack... Fate's fickle humor?"

The end. Thank you so much to all who have read this tale, especially those who also reviewed. I hope you enjoyed!


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